Perez and Sainz say there's no hard feelings after Baku collision
F1 NewsFriday, 20 September 2024 at 07:30
Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz revealed they had cleared the air with no hard feelings after last weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix collision and hoped for a good race in Singapore on Sunday.
The Perez and Sainz crashed out on the penultimate lap in Baku while fighting for P3, a collision that contributed to McLaren going 20 points clear in the 2024 F1 world championship standings.
Perez told reporters on Thursday in Singapore: "It was just wrong moves at the wrong time and I think in the end it's just irrelevant at the moment who is to blame,"
Sainz said separately the pair sat awkwardly and sadly together for 20 minutes in the medical centre after the crash while hooked up to heart rate monitors.
"We were looking at each other and saying: 'Mate, what the... happened there? And we were like: I don't know. But I promise I didn't do anything bad to you... I didn't close you off. I didn't do anything,' said the Spaniard.
Carlos: No hard feelings with each other
"We were having this dialogue and trying to analyse what happened. It was a podium coming. In the end we kind of joked about it, so no hard feelings with each other," insisted Sainz.
Perez said talk on social media that he had hit Sainz's helmet or pushed the Ferrari driver's head in the immediate aftermath of the crash were exaggerated:
"I was talking to him, I didn't push his head. It looks worse on the video than it is. Carlos is one of my best mates in the drivers' group. The last person that I would have liked to come together with is with Carlos.
"But we've turned the page and hopefully both of us can have a tremendous race," reckoned Perez. Sainz said he had not heard what Perez said while still sitting in the car.
Perez hailed his mechanics for a tremendous job in fixing the shattered car and expected to have the latest specification in Singapore.
"It just shows how hard we're pushing and it's very encouraging and I really hope that I can pay them back with a great result on Sunday," Perez said.
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