Rosberg critical of Verstappen’s attitude in Jeddah

Nico Rosberg has aimed criticism at Max Verstappen for his attitude during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend.

Verstappen’s event took a turn for the worst on Saturday, when during qualifying, he dropped out in Q2 with a drive shaft failure.

The Dutchman recovered in the grand prix to finish second, with team-mate Sergio Perez grabbing the fifth win of his career.

Despite his strong drive to the podium after lining up towards the back of the field, Verstappen expressed unhappiness after the race, insisting that he is “not here to finish second”.

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Rosberg, who won the F1 World Championship in 2016, criticised the reigning title-holder.

“It is not good to see. We were also told he skipped the team meeting [on Saturday] apparently,” Rosberg told Sky F1.

“I don’t think it’s a good approach or mentality so early in the season when the team has done such a brilliant job and worked so hard. I think he could be more gracious.”

Verstappen currently leads the F1 championship after he secured the fastest lap of the race in Jeddah, doing so on the final lap.

Perez questioned the situation after the race, stating that he had received different information than Verstappen from the team.

Regardless, it was clear throughout the weekend that Red Bull possessed the fastest car, backing up its strong pace from the season-opening race in Bahrain.

Perez cruised to the victory, which Red Bull team boss Christian Horner described as his best win in F1 to date.

“I would say arguably that was Checo’s best Grand Prix to be honest with you,” Horner said. 

“Well managed, he had the pace, and the two guys, particularly after the safety car, were pushing flat out. 

“So you could see the relative pace to the rest of the field at that point was remarkable.”

Red Bull threatening to boil over again

Red Bull enjoyed a dominant 2022 campaign, winning 17 out of the 22 grands prix that were staged that year.

However, it wasn’t a smooth season for it as it was forced to contend with other matters such as breaching the budget cap.

Just when the overspending controversy seemed to be boiling down, tension arose within the team amid a team order squabble at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where Verstappen refused to let Perez through amid his fight for second in the standings.

Red Bull cooled the situation in the weeks that followed, but there appears to be a lack of harmony between the two drivers.

Given its advantage at the front of the field, it is likely that the duo will be the ones most often competing for race wins this year.

And if that’s the case, Red Bull could have a job on its hands to keep its drivers under control.