Team orders at Red Bull unnecessary: 'This isn't a Vettel/Webber scenario'

Team orders at Red Bull Racing were a hotly debated topic during the Spanish Grand Prix. Jolyon Palmer understands that the team chose the safe option, but the former Formula One driver doesn't think it was necessary, however.

F1 is no stranger to team orders. At Mercedes, it happened more often when Valtteri Bottas was still Lewis Hamilton's teammate, and Red Bull also has a history with duos like Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and the 'Multi 21' drama.

Sergio Perez has also received team orders from Red Bull before, but in Spain, the Mexican clearly had his doubts. According to Palmer, the team orders came rather early in the season, as Perez arrived in Spain third in the championship with a gap of only nineteen points to Max Verstappen.

"Teams have to trust their drivers to race fairly, particularly when they are as harmonious as Perez and Verstappen are at the moment. There’s no animosity between the pair. This isn’t a Hamilton/Rosberg, Vettel/Webber or Hamilton/Alonso scenario here when there are major points to prove in an extremely bitter rivalry. There, the stakes were obviously much higher", Palmer writes in his column for F1.com.

"The Red Bull duo are some of the best in the business and I’m sure that they could have had a dice on track without risking a collision", Palmer says. Perez was particularly doubtful of the team orders because earlier in the race he was faster than Verstappen, who was stuck behind George Russell with DRS problems. The Mexican was however denied permission to overtake the Dutchman.