Verstappen lashes out: 'The things I've read are pretty disgusting'

As became clear after the Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen's decision did not come out of the blue. "It was about something that happened earlier in the season. I explained that in Mexico and the team agreed. We went to Brazil, thought we were going to race. We had a miscommunication on Saturday and Sunday, nothing had been said to me about a potential swap. It only came into the last lap and it was said on the radio," he explained at the press conference in Abu Dhabi to GPblog and others.

He continued: "They [Red Bull] should've known my response from what I said the week before." Verstappen does acknowledge, however, that the conversation should have been had much earlier. "In hindsight, we should've had that conversation earlier. I have never been a bad teammate, I've always been very helpful. The team knows that. I always put the team up front because it's a team effort. We have to be a little bit more open and communicate better to each other."

Verstappen fierce towards media and fans

As Red Bull Racing pointed out in a statement, there have been a huge number of hate reactions towards the team. However, family members also had to take the brunt. "I looked very bad in the media, but they didn't have the clear picture. To put me down like that is pretty ridiculous. The things I've read are pretty disgusting. They started to attack my family, my sister, mum, girlfriend, and dad," Verstappen sounds fierce. "That goes too far when you don't have the facts. If you have a problem with me, that's fine. But don't go after my family."

As far as he and Red Bull are concerned, the issue has now been resolved internally, and he is certainly ready to help Perez secure second place. "I am looking forward to seeing the battle. As a team we have never finished 1st and 2nd, if we can achieve that, that would be amazing. if the opportunity is there to help as a team, we are going to do that," Verstappen said, while stressing that his relationship with Perez did not suffer from the incident. "I have a great relationship with Checo. I hope one day they understand what is going on. Not only fans, but people in this paddock."