Sergio Perez has rejected suggestions that he crashed on purpose in Monaco, while teammate Max Verstappen has criticized the media’s coverage of his decision to ignore team orders in Brazil last weekend.

Red Bull issued a statement on Thursday saying it had made mistakes in its handling of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix when it asked Verstappen to return a position to Perez without first discussed it pre-race. Verstappen declined to do so and says he gave his reasons to the team, admitting “it was about something that happened earlier in the season”, and didn’t deny that it surrounded a crash from Perez in qualifying in Monaco. But when that theory was put to Perez, he replied: “That rumor is wrong.

“I think it is just part of the sport and the speculation people like to make. For me, this happened so many races ago that it is totally irrelevant. I’m thinking about this weekend. I’m thinking about making sure this team is in good spirits because we have had a tremendous season, a hell of a year for Red Bull and I don’t want this to take away an of the enjoyment for any of the guys in my team. Max and myself have a very strong responsibility to keep this united team going forward.”

Verstappen himself claims the media coverage of him has been unfair because the reports do not represent the full situation, but he declined the opportunity to explain his reasons once again.

“After that race, I looked very bad in the media, but they didn’t have the clear picture,” Verstappen said. “To immediately put me down like that is ridiculous to be honest, because they don’t know how I work within the team and what the team appreciates about me. So all the things I’ve read are pretty disgusting.

“They’ve started attacking my family, they threatened my sister, my mum, my girlfriend, and my dad. That goes way too far when you don’t have the facts of what’s actually going on, and that definitely has to stop. If you have a problem with me that’s fine, but don’t go after my family, because that is just unacceptable.

“I just don’t understand when people don’t have the full picture to start attacking me like that. I hope one day they actually understand what was going on, because it’s just unacceptable behavior. Also in this paddock, to be honest. Not only fans but a lot of people, what they have been writing about me is ridiculous.”

The Dutchman appeared to be combining both social media comments and media coverage into his point, but when asked to give further information to help explain his side of the story, he refused to do so.

“I won’t go into detail about that because it’s just between myself and the team,” he said. “But it’s just incredibly disappointing that, without knowing the full facts, that people write so many bad things straight away. I don’t know why that is but at the end of the day you contribute to the problems social media has, by writing these things. The team knows how I work with them and I’ve always been good to the team.

“We keep it between the team and myself. They don’t know the real story, so you don’t need to write the story. I’m just a bit fed up with all this bull**** just going around all the time. As soon as there’s something negative, it needs to be highlighted. It’s pretty sickening to be honest, being part of all that. At the end of the day I haven’t done anything wrong, people just misunderstood what was going on.”