Azerbaijan F1 GP: Perez and Sainz Avoid Penalties⁤ for Crash

Carlos Sainz‌ and Sergio Perez were involved in a crash during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but stewards decided not to impose any penalties.

The incident ‌occurred on the⁣ penultimate lap, as ⁤the two drivers were battling⁣ for third place. They made​ contact, causing both cars to hit the‍ barriers,⁣ and a virtual ⁣safety‍ car was deployed for the remainder of the⁣ race.

Perez had regained his ⁣strength on the streets of Baku and ​was behind‍ the ⁣leading two cars of Oscar Piastri ‍and ‌Charles Leclerc⁢ for much of the second⁤ half of the race. However, Leclerc ⁢slowed​ down due to hard tyres, bringing Perez and Sainz closer together and putting them⁣ on ‍a collision course.

After reviewing the crash data and racing lines, the stewards determined that “neither ⁤driver was significantly at fault” and deemed the incident a “racing ⁤incident.” No further ⁢action was necessary.

Driver Reactions

Perez expressed ⁤frustration on the team radio after⁤ the incident. Sainz defended his position ahead of discussions with race stewards.

“It‌ was a big crash. Unfortunately, I ⁤hit the concrete wall and hit‌ the barrier. To be honest, I was ‌going quite fast ⁤behind⁣ Charles⁤ and saving the tyres.”

“Then ‍I think he came out of ⁣the second corner. He followed his ​usual trajectory. There were⁣ no strange movements. Then, for reasons I⁢ still don’t understand, we ​collided.”

“Yes, he ⁢had a lot of ‌space⁢ on the left. I didn’t make any strange⁢ movements, but I think⁣ that’s the point of racing.”

Carlos Sainz

Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s advisor, ​insisted that Sainz was​ solely ‌responsible for the crash.

“Sainz suddenly swerved to ‍the left and crashed. There was no need to provoke ⁣something like that with ⁢two laps to⁢ go. ⁣Perez reacted well and ‌obviously gave in voluntarily.”

Helmut Marko

Perez ⁣was more calm when discussing the​ incident.

“It’s very ⁢frustrating for the team that the weekend went like this. There was ⁣about a metre between the​ two cars coming out of Turn 2, but they touched ‍within a metre or two. It’s unfortunate ⁢that this happened.”

“Obviously, I understand what Carlos was trying ‌to⁣ do⁣ to follow Charles’ slipstream, but I was there and ​it all happened so quickly that ​the movement immediately ‍touched my right front tyre.”

Sergio Perez

Category: Formula 1 / F1 Azerbaijan GP ⁤ / Sergio Perez / ​ Carlos ​Sainz Jr.