F1 | Horner: “Perez lucky not to have hit Max at the start”

Sergio Perez’s race is not one that will be remembered for long, given a fourth place finish without any great ideas in terms of performance. However, on the other hand there were some episodes that caused discussion, starting from what happened at the start, when the Mexican risked hitting not only the two Ferraris, but also his teammate.

After a good momentum from the fourth spot, the Mexican saw a free space on the inside, attempting to brake to the limit to overtake the two Reds, so much so that he came to a standstill. Perez was therefore unable to slow down his RB20 sufficiently, risking hitting the rear of Verstappen’s sister car.

In the end, Perez came wide in the area outside the corner, losing his position on Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, who did well to take advantage of the situation to overtake Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, which in reality, thanks to a good sprint, had originally been able to move into second position. However, the Red Bull driver’s long move changed all the scenarios, putting not only his rivals’ race at risk, an aspect of which the team is also aware.

According to Christian Horner, in fact, what pushed Perez to this attempt was Charles Leclerc’s slow start. However, on the other hand the Team Principal did not hide the fact that the Mexican’s move could have had much more important consequences.

“His start was very optimistic. Charles didn’t start very well and Checo saw a space in turn one. He tried to attack, but obviously he went long and was very lucky not to hit Max in the first turn, as well as not to hit the two Ferraris while returning to the track. I was pleased to see that all the cars survived without damage.”

Perez admitted that he came really close to disaster due to the lack of grip on the inner part of the track, which added up to very late braking: “I made a good start, Charles started really badly, but as soon as I braked there was no more grip on the inside, like Hamilton in the sprint. And there was no more grip and I came to a lock. I risked taking out Max. I had to lift the brake pedal and I lost a position compared to Piastri ”.

“It was unfortunate, but apart from that, I think we struggled to find the rhythm today. We couldn’t find the pace we needed, we have to work to try to understand why, what the problem was.”

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Lacking the pace necessary for a significant comeback, Perez could only take fifth place at the checkered flag, only to be promoted to fourth when Sainz was given a penalty for contact with Oscar Piastri after time spent behind of the Safety Car. In fact, in the first part of the race, the Mexican attempted to keep Lando Norris behind him for a long time, with Red Bull opting for an early stop to put on the hard tires.

The intervention of the safety car allowed the Englishman from McLaren to gain the lead of the race, with Perez thus slipping to sixth place, although he then took advantage of the accident between Sainz and Piastri to recover by another position.

After the race, Verstappen revealed he saw Perez approaching in his mirrors, but disaster was averted as the Mexican narrowly managed to correct his trajectory just enough to pass between his teammate and the two Ferraris.

“I was aware. I turned around and saw that it had come to a lock. After the race I saw that there was a scratch on my diffuser. So something must have hit. But yes, it was close. The situation could have ending with a disaster, obviously, also for the team. I was lucky,” Verstappen said at the end of the race, underlining that he saw some scratches on the back of his car.