Following Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez’s crash at the 2024 Azerbaijan GP which took both drivers out of the race, F1 expert Karun Chandhok blamed the Ferrari driver. A day later, however, he has taken a more neutral stance on the matter.
Sainz and Perez were battling for P3 towards the closing stages, and were going wheel to wheel in the DRS zone, which comes after turn two. Perez’s front right tire touched Sainz‘s left rear, and both went into the barriers.
Looking back at what happened, Chandhok wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Spent some time looking at the [Sainz Perez] crash today. Looking again, it does seem both could have done more to avoid it.“
Still buzzing after yesterday’s race… Brain pretty fried from the intensity of that battle – makes me have more respect for Oscar soaking up the pressure!
Spent some time looking at the SAI / PER crash today. Looking again, it does seem both could have done more to avoid it.…
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) September 16, 2024
Chandhok suggested that Sainz did swerve left, but was on the natural racing line. Perez, however, did not expect that, according to the Indian former F1 driver. “Real shame, as they were both set for a podium finish,” Chandhok added.
Sainz was behind Perez for a huge portion of the race, but found pace later to launch a charge on the Mexican driver. Sainz overtook him on the first corner, and held position on the second. But the SF24 and the RB20 both looked equally fast on the straights, and both drivers were precariously close to each other.
In the end, it resulted in a disaster for both as Ferrari and Red Bull lost out on crucial points, which could have done wonders for them in their respective constructors’ championship tallies.
For Red Bull, the mood was even more dismal, because Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen finished only P5 behind his championship rival Lando Norris. Moreover, the Austrian team also lost out on P1 in the constructors’ standings to McLaren, with seven races to go.
