The Azerbaijan Grand Prix finished under Virtual Safety Car conditions after Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crashed out of the race on the penultimate lap while fighting for the final podium position. And while both teams lost big points as a result, the crash hurt Red Bull more than Ferrari as it resulted in McLaren overtaking them in the championship by a massive 20 points.
The crash occurred after Perez’s failed overtake attempt on Charles Leclerc into turn one, which also cost him the position against Sainz. In his post-race interview with Sky Sports F1, Perez put the entire blame for the crash on Sainz.
“Really a shame that it happened,” said Perez. “Yeah, I lost words to say because it cost a lot of points, a disaster to the championships. We definitely have a lot more on the table this weekend. In my opinion, Carlos moved too quickly to follow the tow from Charles, it’s just the wrong time, the wrong moment that ended up with a huge shunt.”
Sergio Pérez on the incident with Sainz:
“Really a shame that it happened. Yeah, I lost words to say because it costed a lot of points, disaster to the championships. We definitely have a lot more on the table this weekend.
In my opinion, Carlos moved too quickly to follow the… pic.twitter.com/5GnzgB3EXy
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 15, 2024
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also shared a similar sentiment as his driver and blamed Sainz for drifting across the circuit and into Perez. However, Sainz doesn’t believe he did anything wrong as he came back on the racing line behind his teammate.
