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“I don’t think Mercedes like our cars”- Red Bull boss hits out at Mercedes after George Russell’s collision with Sergio Perez

Somin Bhattacharjee
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"I don't think Mercedes like our cars"- Red Bull boss hits out at Mercedes after George Russell's collision with Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez had his race ruined on the opening lap at the Red Bull ring after collision with Mercedes’ George Russell.

Red Bull didn’t have the best of outings in this home race on Sunday. Perez in particular, could not pose any challenge during the race whatsoever, after colliding with Russell on the opening lap.

The Mexican driver seemed to be ahead of Russell on turn 4, but the left front of the Brit hit Perez’s car, which led to him spinning out of the track. He rejoined in last place, but his sidepod was heavily damaged. He pit for new tyres and rejoined 47 seconds behind the race leader.

His teammate Verstappen, the Ferraris and the Mercedes had all lapped him. As a result, Red Bull felt that with the damage to his RB18 already, there was no point in continuing.

Russell got a five second time penalty for causing this collision, but went on to finish P4 behind Lewis Hamilton at the end.

Also read: “Carlos Sainz bursts into flames” – F1 Twitter heartbroken after a horrible DNF for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at Austrian GP

Red Bull boss Christian Horner launches verbal attack on George Russell

Horner was not happy with how Russell’s W13 ended Perez’s race in Spielberg. After the race, the 48-year old was not kind with his words when describing earlier incidents with Mercedes in this track.

Back in 2020, former Red Bull driver Alex Albon suffered a similar fate when he had a sure shot podium stolen from him after Hamilton’s front left made contact with his car under almost similar conditions. Horner used that incident to hit out at the Silver Arrows.

“I don’t think Mercedes likes our cars going around the outside of turn 4,” Horner said to Sky Sports. “So, it was a same because you could see Checo was ahead there and it’s almost a mirror image of Alex a few years ago.”

“Congratulations to Ferrari,” he added. “They had a quicker car through majority of the race, and Max was coming back at the end. Our tyre deg was higher half way through the first stint.

Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen started the race on pole, but could not hold his position. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally bounced back after what had been a tough last few weeks for him, taking home to win in Austria.

Also read: “Everybody gets a track limit penalty”: F1 twitter reacts to ‘ridiculous’ track limits during the Austrian GP

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Somin Bhattacharjee is an F1 editor at The SportsRush and has written more than 2000 articles. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and considers sports to be a part of his life. Somin has been a fan of Scuderia Ferrari since 2010 and his favorite driver is none another than the legendary Fernando Alonso. Other than longing for a Ferrari Championship win once again, Somin spends his free time playing football and basketball.

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