Carlos Sainz has shared details of an “awkward” 20 minutes spent in Baku’s medical center with Sergio Perez following their late-race collision in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The two drivers were battling for the final spot on the podium in Baku when they collided on the run out of Turn 2, the Ferrari and the Red Bull veering interlocked into the barriers.
The clash was ruled a racing incident by the stewards, but in the immediate aftermath of the coming together, Sainz and Perez found themselves sitting next to each other as they awaited their mandatory medical evaluations, with both drivers pondering their fate.
“We were awkwardly sat next to each other for 20 minutes in the medical centre, both with a heart rate monitor and controlling our vitals,” Sainz recalled.
“We were looking at each other and saying: ‘mate, what the f*** happened there? And we were like: I don't know. But I promise I didn't do anything bad to you, Checo. I didn't close you off. I didn’t do anything’.
“We were having this dialogue and trying to analyse what happened. And suddenly, after these 20 minutes, we were like: this sport is so shit sometimes. How can we be here and missing out on the podium? We had the podium.
“Charles was dying on his hard tyres out there. We were probably both going to have a go at him. And we were both sitting there like: ‘how on earth did we manage to not finish in the podium?’
“It was a podium coming - and in the end we kind of joked about it, so no hard feelings with each other.”
Perez shared the Spaniard's feelings as both drivers lamented the collision that robbed them of a significant points finish.
“Once we took our helmets off, we realised that we both screwed it up, that finishing a race like that was really disappointing,” commented the Mexican.
“We were in the medical centre, and they were checking us out, we were both fine and we both wanted to leave as soon as possible because we were both super, super sad with the outcome.
“It is behind us, and I really hope we can both have a really strong end to the season.
“I think it was just wrong moves at the wrong time and I think in the end it is just irrelevant at the moment, who is to blame.
“We both ended up with zero points, damaging our teams a lot and it was something we were having a chat, and we were thinking the amount of damage for us, with especially Charles struggling so much, that in the end we should have been on the podium, but we were not.
“But it is irrelevant now, let’s turn the page.”
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