Sergio Pérez on the crash with Sainz: «He is the last one» / Formula 1

Fans and experts are controversially discussing the collision between Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Sergio Pérez (Red Bull Racing) shortly before the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit.

While Pérez initially cursed like a madman (“Damned idiot! Is he crazy or what?”) and Sainz played the clueless (“I don't know what happened there”), the rule enforcers came to the conclusion that no one was to blame for the vast majority of the incidents, so there was no penalty, just a racing incident.

Two-time Baku GP winner Pérez quickly calmed down and then said: “Carlos is the last person I want to collide with. The collision is a real shame because it ruined our second weekend.”

“I'm totally frustrated. I understand that Carlos was trying to catch Leclerc's slipstream in front of us, but he must have guessed that I was already on the left. Everything happens quickly. At the same time, I know that from this perspective you can't see the opponent on the left.”

In one scene of the race, Lando Norris was instructed by McLaren to make life as difficult as possible for the advancing Sergio Pérez in order to help Oscar Piastri to move further ahead. Norris promptly did this.

“Checo” Pérez calculates: “That certainly cost me more than two seconds, and we then lacked that time to undercut Oscar. On this track, the tires suffer when you have to follow a rival. If I had had a clear run during that phase, I could have won this race.”

“But I'm left with zero points and we've been overtaken by McLaren in the World Championship.” That's disappointing. But we can see the light on the horizon – we were more competitive and the slight adjustments to the car have paid off. That's encouraging.”

“Overall, our car is still too sensitive to the smallest changes in the setup.” Max's car was only slightly adjusted after qualifying, and everyone could see how difficult it was for him in the Grand Prix. We have to manage to make the car's usable window larger.”

Azerbaijan GP, ​​Baku City Circuit

01. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:32:58.007 h
02. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +10.910 sec.
03. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, +31.328
04. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +36.143
05. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +1:17.098 min
06. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, +1:25.468
07. Alex Albon (T), Williams, +1 lap, +1:27.396
08. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, +1:29.541
09. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, +1:32.401
10. Oliver Bearman (GB), Haas, +1:33.127
11. Nico Hülkenberg (D), Haas, +1:33.465
12. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, +1:57.189
13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Racing Bulls, +2:26.907
14. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Clean, +2:28.841
15. Esteban Ocon (F), Alpine, +1 lap
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, +1 lap
Out of
Carlos Sainz (E), Ferrari, crash
Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, accident
Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, brakes
Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, Crash

World Championship standings (after 17 of 24 Grands Prix and 3 of 6 sprints)

driver
01. Verstappen 313 points
02. Norris254
03. Leclerc235
04. Piastri 222
05.Sainz184
06. Hamilton166
07. Russell143
08. Perez 143
09.Alonso-58
10. Walk 24
11. Hulkenberg 22
12. Tsunoda22
13. Albon12
14. Ricciardo12
15. Gasly 8
16. Oliver Bearman (GB) 7
17. Magnussens 6
18. Ocon 5
19. Colapinto 4
20. Zhou-0
21. Logan Sargeant (USA) 0
22. Bottas-0

Constructors' Cup
02. McLaren 476 points
01. Red Bull Racing 456
03. Ferrari 425
04. Mercedes-Benz 309
05. Aston-Martin 82
06. Racing Bulls 34
07. Haas-29
09. Williams 16
08. Alpine 13
10. Clean 0