Perez later explained that he had not seen Verstappen alongside him initially and only opened the door for him once he realized his teammate was trying to squeeze through. Verstappen reclaimed the lead at Turn 4 and went on to win the race with a comfortable 21-second margin.
Schiff, a former W Series racer and now a Sky F1 pundit, expressed doubts about Perez’s version of events. She questioned why Perez would have taken that line down the straight if he had not been aware of Verstappen’s presence. Schiff also highlighted the potential risk for Red Bull, the dominant force in Formula 1, in a teammate-to-teammate collision.
