"Maybe Checo didn't see Max": Christian Horner's take on the battle between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned that Sergio Perez might not have seen Max Verstappen during their opening lap battle in the 2023 Austrian Sprint Race.

The Red Bull duo started from the front row in wet conditions. But it was the Mexican who got the better start and went past his teammate and championship rival into Turn 1.

However, they were very close to touching after Perez got a bit twitchy in wet conditions and did not see Max Verstappen on his right side but they avoided the collision.

Speaking on the incident with Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz, Horner said:

"I think Checo had Max unsighted on the right-hand side. Thankfully, they didn't collect each other and a one-two finish is a great result for the team. The rules are very fair: race hard and give each other space. At [turns] one and three, yes [they abided by the rules]. It was the bit in the middle where it got a bit tasty but maybe Checo didn't see Max."

---

Max Verstappen speaks on the first lap battle with Sergio Perez

The double world champion registered another win in the Sprint race format but he did have to fight in the opening lap against Perez.

While giving his account of the incident, Max Verstappen said:

"The start wasn't ideal, a bit of wheelspin. But after lap 1 when we got back into the lead it was just about managing the tires, knowing if it wasn't going to rain anymore that 24 laps on intermediates was quite long."

"The slicks were quite a bit faster the last five laps but for us so far in the lead, it didn't make sense to pit. We just hung in there. It was a little bit of a hairy moment out of Turn One. When you get forced onto the grass it's very slippery but we managed to keep control and from there we just did our race again."

Sergio Perez explained his side and added:

"I think Max was angry that I went into Turn Two. But I didn't see him there. I had a bad Turn One, so I tried to protect. One I realized he was there, I opened the door and gave the place back into Turn Two. But it was all fine, we spoke about it. Although we were 1-2, it was very bad the visibility out there."

It will be interesting to see if Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have further discussions about their battle in the debrief.