The writers of Drive to Survive must have loved the Brazilian GP weekend so far. We’ve only just finished the sprint qualifying and there’s already a lot of drama. Among the bigger incidents like Kevin Magnussen’s pole and George Russell’s sprint win, a few incidents have slipped through the cracks. For example, a dispute between Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
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Before we talk about the aftermath, let’s summarize the origin of the tension between the two. During the sprint race, Verstappen dropped from P1 to P4 in the pecking order. The rarely slow pace of Verstappen’s RB18 saw him being passed by Russell, Sainz and Hamilton. In P4, Verstappen met his teammate Perez, who was fifth.
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Perez communicates his desire to pass Verstappen so he can start the race in P3 and gain an advantage over Leclerc in the race ahead. Perez wanted the lead to extend his five-point lead over Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship.

Red Bull issued no such team orders, much to Perez’ displeasure as the two held their positions. This didn’t go down well as Perez looked to defend his second spot in the championship. That certainly didn’t sit well with fans as Perez followed every team order in favor of his teammate, who is already a world champion.
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Though hints of tension didn’t go public until fans became aware of Perez and Verstappen’s social media activity.
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen are no longer friends, at least on Instagram
Red Bull men took to Instagram after the race and silently shared their vengeance with a simple gesture. The teammates unfollowed each other on Instagram. Fans received this update thanks to the public nature of their social media activity.
Fans flooded Twitter with their reactions to the two unfollowing each other.
#f1twt checo and max don’t follow each other on Instagram. What’s happening?!?!
— net (@sebschumi) November 13, 2022
CHECO WILL NOT FOLLOW MAX ON INSTAGRAM LMAOO HES SO ME FR
— val🧣| thank you seb💚 (@rosestofall) November 13, 2022
Yes, Checo unfollowing Max on Instagram is funny, but it’s not that profound
— notlimah44 (@notlimah44) November 13, 2022
Perez’s decision confused fans, but many tied the dots to the incident during the sprint race.
Has Checo unfollowed Max on Instagram? Finally he’s had enough 😭😭😭😭
— Aaron (@AaronMolloy6) November 12, 2022
WATCH THIS STORY: Two decades later, Red Bull is disastrously re-enacting the 2002 Austrian GP
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Yes I was watching the sprint race but apparently Checo unfollowed Max on Instagram and? i’m just confused
— lin (@formelin) November 12, 2022
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Petty or not, Sergio Perez subtly made known his feeling about the team orders that never came. But what do you think? Should Red Bull have Perez and Verstappen swapped positions?