Perez ruffled by 'unfair' Red Bull team order in Spanish GP

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A frustrated Sergio Perez will seek clarity from Red Bull on why the team ordered him to stand down while in the lead in the closing stages of the Spanish GP and not fight teammate Max Verstappen.

The Mexican driver was leading the race with 18 laps to go when the Red Bull pitwall told him not to defend his leading position against Verstappen.

Perez said he would comply but branded the call as "unfair", especially as earlier in the race Red Bull had pushed back on his suggestion that he use his fresher tyres to overtake his teammate and hunt down Mercedes' George Russell.

"I'm happy for the team, but we need to speak later," Perez told his crew on the cool-down lap.

"I think it was close," he said after the race, adopting a diplomatic stance. "But at the end it is a great team result. I'm happy for that."

Perez admitted that the call had been justified by the fact that Red Bull's drivers were on different strategies.

"We were on different tyre strategies at the time," Perez added. "I let Max by in the beginning, then I thought at the time I could go by and not lose crucial seconds to make my strategy work.

"But anyway, it's a good team result."

Read also: Verstappen happy to win after 'difficult beginning'

Defending his outfit's call, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said that Perez understandably didn't have the full picture of what was going on.

"Our responsibility is to bring the two cars home with as many points as we can, and of course what Checo couldn’t see at the time, which he could see perfectly well now, is that he had such a long stint to do on the medium tyre," Horner explained.

"Max had such a tyre advantage from a team perspective there is just no point in taking that risk with an intermittent DRS, with temperatures raging up and down. So it was absolutely the right thing to do."

Horner suggested that a post-race briefing would help Perez understand the team's call.

"I think we will discuss it and he [Perez] will see the race plot, and he will see that he had close to 30 laps to do on the tyres, which in the end we needed to pit to make sure we covered Russell.

"In the heat of the moment you can understand it. If he wasn’t pushing those types of things he isn’t doing his job."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.