Mexico feasts on petulant Jos Verstappen after Perez win

F1 News

Mexican media on Jos Verstappen after Perez win
20 March 2023 at 16:31
Last update 20 March 2023 at 16:42
  • GPblog.com

While Sergio Perez celebrated victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with his mechanics, Max Verstappen was being weighed a few metres away. The Dutch world champion's face showed little emotion: not happy, not disappointed. He seemed mostly at peace with the handsome second place behind his teammate, from whom Verstappen did manage to take the fastest lap.

By contrast, it was clear from the face of father Jos Verstappen, who was waiting behind one of the crowd barriers for the podium ceremony, that he was anything but happy with Perez's win. Television footage did not reveal whether Verstappen senior congratulated the Mexican at any point.

'Couldn't hide annoyance'

Media in Mexico are feasting on the petulant Jos Verstappen, who briefly appeared on screen. Thus wrote the Mexican site Esto, which has a good relationship with the Perez family, that Jos 'could not hide his annoyance'. "The annoyance at not seeing Verstappen win was more than noticeable," wrote the website, which had posted several pictures of Verstappen senior from Twitter to prove it.

Esto couldn't believe their luck after their compatriot's victory. "Viva Mexico" was what the site started the match report with. Further on, it wrote: "Checo was better than Verstappen, and this led to the Mexican national anthem, with lyrics by Francisco González Bocanegra and music by Jaime Nunó, being heard with great pride. He is the king of street circuits."

Another article on the same website was titled: 'Max Verstappen ignored Checo's superiority in Saudi Arabia GP'. That Perez was the better would be something Verstappen "found hard to admit".