The Azerbaijan GP ended in a disaster for Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, who were both in the running for a podium finish. Sitting in the medical center after the crash, the two drivers looked at each other, wondering what they were doing there instead of being on the podium. And during the contemplation, they realized how “sh*t” the sport could be at times.
Squabbling for P2, Charles Leclerc and Perez saw Sainz enter the fight, making it a three-way battle. With the Monegasque’s tires falling off, both other drivers had the opportunity to push him out of the top three and stand on the podium. However, the penultimate lap saw Sainz and Perez clash, resulting in a double DNF.
Full on-board camera footage of the crash between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, from Perez’s point of view!#F1 #Formula1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/qHFW9Dmlh4
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) September 15, 2024
With neither driver at fault for the accident, the stewards deemed it a racing incident, taking no further action. Revisiting what went wrong in the race, the two drivers had a chat in the medical center which Sainz revealed in Singapore this weekend.
“We were having this dialogue and trying to analyze what happened. And suddenly, after these 20 minutes, we were like, ‘this sport is so sh*t at times.'”, the Spaniard recalled.
Painting a picture of the scene, Sainz detailed how he and Perez were sitting next to each other awkwardly. Thinking about what could have been, they joked about missing out on a podium, ending the conversation with no hard feelings.
Notably, Perez emerged as the bigger victim, owing to the talks about his future in F1. The Mexican driver hasn’t been able to stand on the podium since the Chinese GP. Furthermore, he hasn’t finished in the top five since the Miami GP.
Thus, the pressure has been on him to turn his performance around, and the race in Baku was his best chance to do it. With two laps to go, the #11 driver had one hand on a podium trophy, but fate had other plans for the 34-year-old.
