Having fought for the final podium place for most of the race, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz ended up crashing out in the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which led to the race finishing under a Virtual Safety Car condition.
While Perez has not had a good time for the majority of the 2024 season, he was finally toward the sharp end of the grid in Baku, even outqualifying his championship-leading teammate Max Verstappen for the first time this year.
Team principal Christian Horner felt bad for his driver for missing out on the podium as he blamed the Spaniard for causing the crash during the post-race interviews. “He [Perez] deserved more than that,” said Horner.
“I just watched the replay, and Carlos drifted across the circuit. He (Perez) deserved a podium. It destroyed his race and a lot of damage. It has cost us a lot of points in the Constructors.”
Christian Horner: He deserved more than that. I just watch the replay, and Carlos drifted across the circuit. He (Checo) deserved a podium. It destroyed his race, and a lot of damage. It has cost us a lot of points in the Constructors.”
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) September 15, 2024
Perez was closing in on the second-place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on lap 49 and made a failed overtaking attempt into turn one, which allowed Sainz to slip past him on the short run toward turn two.
The crash happened at the exit of turn two when the rear left tire of Sainz touched the front right of Perez as they were both coming back to catch the slipstream of Leclerc in front, sending them both into the wall.
The Mexican also blamed Sainz for the crash during the post-race interviews as he called him out for being too eager to catch the tow from his teammate. Sainz, on the other hand, defended his position by saying that he did nothing wrong at all.
Fred Vasseur refused to blame anyone for the unfortunate crash
While there is much discussion to be had on who was actually at fault, Vasseur took a rather neutral approach in his comments about the crash. He pointed out that the most important thing is the well-being of his driver.
Speaking about the crash itself, he noted that both Sainz and Perez got too close to each other to take advantage of Leclerc’s slipstream. And unlike Horner, he did not blame any single driver for the crash.
Frederic Vasseur: First of all, he [Carlos] is okay – a retirement is a bit steep, but he is okay, which is the most important. Then I think they started straight line between turn 2 and 3 of Charles and they were very, very close together.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) September 15, 2024
“First of all, he [Carlos] is okay – a retirement is a bit steep, but he is okay, which is the most important,” Vasseur remarked. “Then I think they started a straight line between turn two and three of Charles and they were very, very close together.”
