This is how Perez and Sainz evaluated the Baku crash

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Carlos Sainz has revealed how he spent 20 minutes in the medical centre shortly after the accident on the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Sergio Perez. The two were battling for a place on the podium in Baku when they collided at turn two and both drivers ended up in the wall.

Sainz had been attempting to overtake his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who was struggling with his rear tyres, while Perez drove a strong race after a series of mediocre performances in his Red Bull. The race stewards eventually classified the incident as a racing accident.

Sainz is annoyed: Both should have been on the podium

Sainz explains: “We sat awkwardly next to each other in the medical centre for 20 minutes, both with a heart rate monitor and checking our vitals. We looked at each other and said, 'Mate, what the hell happened?' And I said, 'I don't know.'

“We had this dialogue and tried to analyse what had happened. And suddenly, after those 20 minutes, we said to ourselves: 'This sport is so shit sometimes. How can we be here and miss the podium?' We had the podium within our grasp.”

“Charles died out there on hard tires. We both probably wanted to go at him. And we were both sitting there thinking, 'How on earth did we manage not to be on the podium?' Because there was a podium in sight. And we joked about it in the end, so we're not mad at each other.

Perez: They both “messed up”

Perez echoes the Spaniard's words. “After we took our helmets off, we realised that we had both messed up and that it was really disappointing to end a race like that,” he says. “We went to the medical centre and they checked us, we were both fine and we both wanted to leave as soon as possible because we were both very, very sad about the result.”

“It's behind us and I really hope we both have a strong finish to the season. I think it was just the wrong moves at the wrong time and I think it's just irrelevant at this point who's to blame.”

“I think we both ended up with zero points, which really hurt our team, and we talked about it, and we thought that with the damage we suffered, especially Charles, who had to struggle so much, we should have ended up on the podium, but we didn't. But that's irrelevant now, let's turn the tide.

Perez clarifies helmet scene with Sainz

A camera shot of Perez showed the Mexican approaching Sainz after dismounting from his stricken Red Bull and apparently touching the Ferrari driver's helmet. Perez faced heavy criticism on social media as the clip circulated, but Sainz says he cannot remember the incident.

“I was talking to Carlos when he was looking down and I was talking to him, I didn't hit his head,” said Perez. “On the video it looks worse than it is. Carlos is one of my best mates in the riding group, so he's the last person I would have wanted to be with.”

“Social media can be very toxic in this regard sometimes, so it's best to stay away from it because most people don't know the exact truth, and the truth is we were both extremely disappointed.”