“They Haven’t Been Best Friends This Weekend:” Oscar Piastri on Sergio Perez’s Crash With Carlos Sainz

Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz found each other uncomfortably close on the Baku City Circuit a couple of times during the weekend but managed to stay clear of any incident. However, it all went horribly wrong the third time. They ended up colliding on the penultimate lap of the race while fighting for the final podium position behind Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

Perez was closing in on Leclerc on the start-finish straight on lap 49 but an aggressive defense from the Monegasque forced the Mexican wide, which allowed Sainz to slip through on the inside and take third. Sainz then got a good run behind Leclerc and almost challenged his teammate for second.

However, since Sainz was on the outside, he couldn’t turn as early as he would have wanted as they approached turn two and that brought Perez back in the fight with the Spaniard for third. Sainz and Perez eventually ended up making contact as they accelerated out of turn two and this incident ended both their races.

The top three drivers saw the incident on the big screen in the cooldown room and Piastri, the race winner, made a hilarious comment. “They haven’t been the best friends this weekend,” said the Aussie driver.

The first incident between Perez and Sainz happened on Friday during FP2, after which the stewards summoned both drivers. They gave the Spaniard a warning for impeding the Mexican in a fast section of the track. The roles then reversed on Saturday during FP3 as the stewards summoned Perez for potentially impeding Sainz.

This occurred when Perez was cruising on the racing line, while Sainz, on a hot lap, had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. The stewards have now summoned both Sainz and Perez for a third time after their crash on the penultimate lap of the race.

With both Red Bull and Ferrari suffering a huge point loss after the crash between Perez and Sainz, it is McLaren who emerged as the biggest winners. Heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, McLaren were only eight points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.

However, thanks to Piastri’s sensational win and his teammate Lando Norris finishing fourth, the team now have a 20-point lead over Red Bull in the standings. As for Ferrari, they continue to remain in third and are now 31 points behind second-placed Red Bull.