Perez and Russell at odds over first lap clash in Austria

Sergio Perez and George Russell each pointed the finger at the other driver for their first lap clash which resulted in the Red Bull being forced to retire from the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg on Sunday.

Russell started the race from fourth place on the grid and briefly got ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz before being forced back, giving Perez a chance to strike at the Mercedes going into turn 4.

As Perez got his nose ahead, Russell ran wide going through the corner and knocked the Mexican into a spin that put him into the gravel trap, While he was able to recover to pit lane, damage to the sidepod eventually forced him to retire on lap 25.

• Read also: Leclerc too fast for Verstappen as Sainz blows up in Austria

“It was a big shame that we had our race ended so early," he said. "I had the whole race ahead of me and I thought I had good opportunities coming my way, so it was very painful.

"I gave all the room I could to George on lap one, there was enough room for both cars not to crash and unfortunately, we ended up colliding.

“I was clearly ahead,” Perez fumed after parking the RB18 in the garage. “It was up to George to really control his car which he clearly couldn’t and we ended up making contact.

“There was nothing else I could have done," he insisted. "I gave him enough room. I was already very close to the gravel to make sure he had enough room and for both of us to make the corner.”

It was a virtual carbon copy of an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon in 2020. Perez admitted he expected more of Russell especially after they received instructions before the start to give each other enough room.

“For the standards of George, the level, I’m very surprised at that manoeuvre," Perez added. "It’s a big shame for us what happened today.

"We had a lot of damage to the car and we were going nowhere so we had to retire," he confirmed. "Today has hurt us in both championships, and hopefully we can recover the ground."

The stewards verdict agreed that Perez was passing on the outside at turn four, was at least fully alongside at the entry of the turn and all the way through the move, including at the apex of the corner, and left sufficient room for Russell.

They added, “This was not considered as a ‘first lap incident’ as this was a battle between the two cars and was not affected by the pack of cars as can happen during the first lap.”

Retiring from the race and scoring no points on Sunday means that he's lost second place in the drivers championship to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as the season reaches its midway point.

Russell received a five second penalty and two penalty points on his superlicence for causing the collision. It dropped him to the back when he pitted early for repairs, but after that he was able to recover and ended up crossing the line in fourth place.

"I thought the penalty was harsh, for me it was a racing incident, Russell commented afterwards. “From my side obviously, very frustrated with the first lap incident.

"Checo dived down the outside at Turn Four, then took a tight line. I had Sainz ahead and had to get up on the apex kerb," he explained. "I braked late and braked hard. Checo had the clean line and as soon as he started to turn in I knew we were going to make contact.

"I was already on the limit of my car. I was braking as hard as I could and turning as hard as I could but he just had more grip on the racing line," he told Sky Sports F1.

"The contact’s one thing, the penalty is one thing, but then I had the damage which cost me ten seconds as well in terms of race time in the first stint

“On that first lap at the start, it was just the left side of my front wing [that was damaged.] It felt much better [after the pot stop] but it probably cost me a second a lap at the beginning.

"Having a twenty-second pit-stop and coming out in P17 and having to overtake all of these cars, I guess retrospectively [fourth place] was okay, but I expected more."

I started P4 and finished P4 and probably would have taken that before the race, but I'm a little disappointed at how everything unfolded.

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