"It's a disaster to end Baku race in the wall", says Perez
Having been in contention for his first podium finish since the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was understandably disheartened when he explained his race-ending crash with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.
Having closed in on the leading trio in the closing stages of the 51-lap Baku race, Carlos Sainz was desperate to get onto the podium. With Sergio Perez having battled with Charles Leclerc for the second spot, Sainz managed to overtake Perez, but with the Spaniard tussling with Leclerc, Perez managed to fight back and pull alongside Sainz.
The Mexican and the Spaniard collected one another, with both smashing into the barrier and missing out on respective big points hauls.
The incident was investigated by the race stewards, but the stewards deemed the crash to be a racing incident, stating that neither Sainz nor Perez were predominantly at fault, and therefore they have taken no further action.
Reflecting on the incident, Perez suggested that a slight move from Sainz led to the high-speed crash between them.
“I felt that exiting Turn 2, there was plenty of room between both cars, and within a metre or two, we ended up making contact. It’s very unfortunate. It all happened so quickly. I think Carlos was trying to follow the tow from Charles as he went to the inside and that really made things really hard.”
“[The pace today is] a massive [positive],” said Perez. “I think we had the pace to fight for the victory today, so we just have to keep it up and hopefully in the coming races, coming weekends, we can be really strong.
“Today was very unfortunate, the last person I wanted to have a contact with is Carlos and to both end our weekends like that is a disaster for both of us. I feel that we exited turn two with lots of room between the cars and as Charles was moving to the inside, Carlos looked to pick up the tow from him.
Pushed on to assess the consequences of the crash, the six-time F1 race winner has acknowledged that it might be unfortunate to lose valuable points in the championship, but Red Bull can take delight in the improved pace of their RB20.
"As he picked up speed, he moved very quickly, touched my front tyre and it was game over for me. It is a shame for the Team and the Championship, after the race we had today and the work we have done all weekend it’s hard for everyone to take. I feel super sad for the Team, but the positive thing is the pace is back, the changes to the car seem to have put us back in contention.
"We were fighting for the win and looking like we were going to have a strong result – that’s what we need to take out of today. We need to keep it up with the progress we have made and hopefully in the coming races we can be very strong," noted Perez.
