Sainz and Perez to face Azerbaijan GP stewards after heavy crash

Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez have been summoned to see the Azerbaijan Grand Prix stewards following their race-ending crash on the penultimate lap.

Ferrari driver Sainz and Red Bull’s Perez were fighting with Charles Leclerc for the minor podium places after McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had finally managed to pull ahead out front.

Perez’s failure to pass Leclerc for second into Turn 1 on the penultimate lap of 51 at the Baku Street Circuit allowed Sainz to sneak up the inside and claim third from the Mexican.

Perez, however, managed to haul himself in behind Sainz out of Turn 2 but in attempting to pass on the inside along the straight on the run up to Turn 3, the duo collided.

The impact forced both into a heavy smash into a wall on their left-hand side. Perez, winner of this race twice in the past, was incredulous over the radio, while Sainz simply asked: “What happened? What happened?”

The race then finished behind a virtual safety car, with Piastri taking the chequered flag ahead of Leclerc. Mercedes’ George Russell was promoted onto the podium, with McLaren’s Lando Norris fourth and Max Verstappen in his Red Bull fifth.