GPDA chairman Alex Wurz says Sergio Perez is right to speak his mind when it comes to team orders at Red Bull but insists the Mexican should be less accepting of playing the wingman.
Perez finished runner-up to Max Verstappen last weekend in Barcelona, but the Red Bull charger felt frustrated by how the race had panned out and his team's decision to swap its cars' positions at one point to ensure Verstappen's win.
On the cool down lap, the Mexican said over the radio that the 1-2 was a great result for the team but that a "talk" was in order to clarify how his race had unfolded.
©RedBull
"He's fully right to talk," Wurz told the F1 Nation podcast.
"I mean, he is a mega team player. To an extent, at some points, I thought he's actually too easily accepting some of their orders.
"Because you need to be a bit edgy, you need to put your elbows out. He proved for the team he was fighting for the World Championship in Abu Dhabi for Max – [he was] mega."
Wurz said that Perez had not put a foot wrong, but the GPDA chairman pointed out that ordering him not to defend his position against Verstappen also defeated the purpose of his strategy.
"I felt it was right [for him] to raise his voice," he said.
"He executed as the team asked him. He came out with new tyres, and he had to hold back when, actually, the race was critical for him and to use the new tyres, the new rubber, for fast lap times.
"At this point, he had to stay back, so this is when you get cranky as a driver.
"I've been in this situation and it's not cool, but give him credit. He executed [it] but, rightly, he asks for his rights as well.
"It's good to see at the end of the day. Nevertheless, he had to accept the second position behind Max."
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