Horner blames Sainz for high-speed crash with Perez

After Red Bull endured another tough race in Baku, the Milton Keynes-based outfit’s leader Christian Horner put the blame on Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz for causing the high-speed crash with Sergio Perez.

Having closed in on the leading trio in the closing stages of the 51-lap Baku race, Carlos Sainz was desperate to get onto the podium. With Sergio Perez having battled with Charles Leclerc for the second spot, Sainz managed to overtake Perez, but with the Spaniard tussling with Leclerc, Perez managed to fight back and pull alongside Sainz.

The Mexican and the Spaniard collected one another, with both smashing into the barrier and missing out on respective big points hauls.

The incident was investigated by the race stewards, but the stewards deemed the crash to be a racing incident, stating that neither Sainz nor Perez were predominantly at fault, and therefore they have taken no further action.

“A disappointing end to the race and a very unlucky one for Checo; he was in a position to win that race today and it is unfortunate that we weren’t able to achieve that.

“It looked like Carlos drifted to the left hand side of the track and there was contact which caused a huge amount of damage. Importantly both drivers are ok but it has cost us crucial points for Checo and the Constructors’ Championship, so we are very disappointed.

Max Verstappen wasn’t in the same league as his team mate today, losing out to Russell after originally passing the Mercedes at the start. The Dutch racer then spent a lengthy period with Lando Norris and Alexander Albon on the track, and he ultimately lost out to the McLaren driver to finish fifth.

“With Max, he wasn’t as happy with the set up of the car so we’ll have to look into what the difference was there. After the pit stop he ran into Lando and Alex, which was unlucky as it affected his race and his tyres started getting out of the window.

“For the Constructors, it was obviously a big swing in the last three laps and we have lost out on some significant points in the Championship, however, we will brush ourselves down and fight back hard,” noted Horner.