The events of the last laps in Abu Dhabi were so dramatic in their very nature that people couldn’t help but put all their focus on that. But there’s one element of the bigger picture that people didn’t talk about enough and didn’t give enough credit and attention to. And without that element, Max Verstappen wouldn’t even have been in the position he was in towards the end.

The element in question here is the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, and his defense against Lewis Hamilton in the Lap 20 to Lap 22 of the race. This defense directly resulted in Verstappen closing the gap by a mammoth six seconds.

And in a recent interview, the 2021 champion reacted to his teammate’s sublime drive. “Yeah brilliant. This just isn’t normal, how he was defending there,” Verstappen said.

He added, “I thought it was unbelievable how, for one lap, or for longer than one lap, he could hold on.” ‘Super Max’ even reacted to Hamilton’s radio message of ‘dangerous driving’ on Perez as he chuckled and said, “That’s racing hard.”

So impressed and honest was Verstappen on Perez’s defense that he even said, “because of him I’ve also won the championship.” 

Max Verstappen has a new name for Perez

In a season-end video posted by Red Bull, Max Verstappen sat down for a chat with team boss Christian Horner. And looking back on Perez’s drive in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen said, “He’s the minister of defense now.”

Horner added, “He’s been a great teammate this year, I think.” He added, “The ambience between you guys has been fantastic – he says you owe him a beer for Abu Dhabi…”

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“Oh, I’ll pay a lot of beers,” Verstappen replied.

It should be acknowledged that Sergio Perez not only showed his class in 2021 but also shut down many of his doubters. Historically, it’s very rare that a new driver at Red Bull shines, and shines in the way Perez did while maintaining the chemistry with his teammate.

And for that, Checo deserves credit.

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