Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says he can’t blame Sergio Perez for his bold Turn 1 move at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix which ended in tears for the local hero and his many fans.
A rocket launch off the grid boosted by the slipstream of the cars in front of him allowed Perez to draw level with poleman Charles Leclerc and with his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen as the field barreled down towards Turn 1.
As the trio entered the braking zone, Perez on the far left edged slightly ahead of Leclerc and then turned into the corner. But the Red Bull tagged the Ferrari’s front left wheel, which pitched Perez into the air and into the run-off area.
Although Perez was able to nurse his car back to the pits, his crew quickly realized that the damage incurred by the RB19 was terminal.
“I’m absolutely gutted to see Checo go out on the first corner,” said Horner, quoted by Motorsport.com.
“He had probably his best start of the season, got the draft and the tow from the three cars ahead, so arrived with massive over-speed.
“And you can’t blame him, at his home race, going to try to take the lead of the grand prix. I think you’d have to call it a racing incident, because three into one doesn’t go, and Charles, obviously, couldn’t get out of it and he braked late.
“Frustrating for Checo, and really disappointing for his fans to lose him at the first corner.
“The guys did their best to get him back out but there was just too much damage to the floor and underbody of the car. You could see on the replay that Charles was in a bit of a Red Bull sandwich.”
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As a desolate Perez was left to ponder what could have been, Horner admitted that the worst case scenario had unfolded for his driver.
“It’s a tough moment for him,” added the Briton. “It’s in front of his home crowd, and he was very emotional, and I just said to him, ‘The next race is next week. You’re going for the lead in your home race, you wouldn’t be a racing driver if you weren’t going for it’.”
“I think he would have been on the podium for sure without a shadow of a doubt. It’s a big loss for him here with a car that was capable of being on the podium.”
Had Perez made it through the corner, Horner reckons that events would have led to a proper shootout between the two Red Bull drivers, with no team orders to upset their battle.
“It would have been a straight fight between the two of them,” said the Red Bull chief. “So it could have been an interesting afternoon.
“Checo had good pace this weekend, it’s just frustrating that it was a first corner incident. That was my fear going into the race.”
Adding to the negative side of Perez’s misfortune, Lewis Hamilton’s strong second-place finish in Mexico – his second in succession – has now put the Mercedes driver within 20 points of his Red Bull rival in the Drivers’ standings.
“He’s got three races to convert that second place,” said Horner. “There are 20 points between him and Lewis. He’s had some misfortune, he’s had some issues, but we still believe he can do it between now and the end of the year.
“He’s a tough operator, and that’s why he’s in the car, because mentally, he’s always been able to bounce back. He’ll brush himself down and he’ll turn it into motivation.
“A sprint race in Brazil. Las Vegas, a street circuit, he’s always run well at street circuits. Abu Dhabi, he’s always been competitive there as well.
“He’ll have the full support of the team to try and achieve something that we’ve not done before.”
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