Crash Sainz vs Perez: An avoidable and regrettable accident
Parties in the wall with two laps to go while they were fighting for the podium, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez can be disappointed at the end of their Azerbaijan GP. The two drivers, along with Ferrari and Red Bull, have suffered heavy losses.
As he was attacking Charles Leclerc at the start of the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sergio Perez had never been so close to getting on a Formula 1 podium since last April and the Chinese Grand Prix (3rd place). However, the Mexican was pushed outside by the Monégasque in Turn 1, allowing Carlos Sainz to temporarily take 3rd position behind his teammate.
THE CRASH BETWEEN SAINZ AND PÉREZ ONE LAP FROM THE END 🤯
Both drivers are doing well 👍#AzerbaijanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZN4khG7OUf
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) September 15, 2024
In the fight in turn 2, the two Ferraris didn’t give each other any gifts, allowing the Red Bull to come out side by side with Sainz, who still held a slight advantage. The rest, we know it. Sainz and Perez, wanting to take advantage of Leclerc’s slipstream, didn’t give each other any room and their two cars collided before hitting the wall.
An air of incomprehension
Neither of the two drivers scored any points, so it’s George Russell who secured a podium finish. Sergio Perez initially had a heated reaction on the track: ” Is he sick or what? What an idiot!” revealed the Spanish media Marca. In the mixed zone, the 34-year-old driver seemed more measured: “There was a meter gap between us at the exit of turn 2 and we ended up colliding… I understand that Carlos was trying to follow Charles’ slipstream but I was there and he didn’t take that into account.”
Read also: Oscar Piastri prevents Charles Leclerc from winning
If Perez seems to blame Sainz, the Spaniard does not see it that way. « When I exited the corner, I took the normal trajectory and for a reason that still escapes me, we collided,” Sainz testified. « He had a lot of space on his side, I didn’t make any weird moves but Checo decided not to move and not to give any space. »
Later in the evening, the two drivers posted a message on their respective social networks. Both of them described the incident as « and considered that the most important thing was that they were fine.
Red Bull more pumped up than Ferrari
At Red Bull, the clash was hard to accept. The team’s advisor, Helmut Marko, blames the Spaniard: “Sainz turned into Checo’s car, for no reason.” The head of the Austrian team, Christian Horner, agrees: “You can see Carlos starting to drift on the track, so it’s very disappointing, [Perez] should have been on the podium today at least.” The British leader even hoped for a penalty for the Ferrari driver. “We’ll see what will be imposed the following weekend [as a penalty for Sainz], it ruined Checo’s race today, it cost us a lot of damage and obviously crucial points in the constructors’ championship,” he noted.
Read also: GP de Bakou – The Tops / Flops from the editorial team
Fred Vasseur, team principal of the Reds, does not believe that one driver is necessarily more responsible than the other in this crash. “Not even one of them moves a lot,” he said while watching the images on Canal +. The FIA shares his opinion since no sanctions have been issued, considering this collision as a racing incident.
A blow to the general.
The financial impact of this crash is costly for both drivers on a personal level. Carlos Sainz remains in 5th position with 184 points, but is notably being left behind by his three competitors who are ahead of him in the race for 2nd place (Norris with 254 points, Leclerc with 235, and Piastri with 222). Sergio Perez, on his end, could have caught up to Lewis Hamilton (166 points) but ultimately sees George Russell equalize with him at 7th place with 143 points.
Also read: How Piastri went for the victory in Baku
Especially, Red Bull and Ferrari have lost big points to McLaren, which is <a href="/f1/actualite/34757-mclaren-tete-championnat-constructeurs-f1-premiere-depuis-10-ans.html" title="McLaren leading the Formula 1 constructors' championship, a first in 10 years.
"recovered the F1 Constructors' Championship lead for the first time in 10 years. They respectively have 20 and 51 points behind the Oranges with seven races to go."
Find here: The F1 World Championship standings
