Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Sergio Perez’s crash with Carlos Sainz - “It's very expensive for us”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed that Sergio Perez's crash with Carlos Sainz was going to be very expensive for the team. The Mexican driver collided with the Ferrari of Sainz on the penultimate lap of the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 34-year-old looked to be in contention for a podium place as he was hovering around the lead battle with Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri for the majority of the race. After passing the Monegasque driver into Turn 2, the Mexican couldn't manage to hold on to his lead as he slipped back from P2 at the exit of the corner.

Sergio Perez found himself in P4 out of the corner as Carlos Sainz made a move into P3 and took the final podium place. The Spanish driver, however, in his eagerness to attack his Ferrari teammate for another position, understeered heading into Turn 3 and eventually collided with Perez.

Speaking with DAZN, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner gave his take on the crash and said (as quoted by SoyMotor):

"He had a good run on Charles. Carlos used that and I've watched the replay a few times if you look at the wall, Carlos moves towards Checo and that ends the race. It's very expensive for us, for Checo, for the damage, for the expenses and the Constructors' World Championship," Horner said (translated from Spanish).

"It was unfortunate for Sergio because he drove brilliantly. He was very fast. He lost a lot of time to Lando, who was holding him back. If not, he would have undercut Oscar and I think he could have gone on to win the race," he added.

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Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz commented on their crash in Baku

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez put the blame firmly on Carlos Sainz's shoulders as he believed that the latter moved to get the tow from his teammate Charles Leclerc.

In his post-race interview, Perez claimed that Carlos was too eager to capitalize on the opportunity to catch up to LeClerc, and said:

"In my opinion, Carlos moved too quickly to follow the tow of Charles and unfortunately it was a big difference. It's a real shame that it happened. Not any words to say. It was a disaster for the championship," Sergio Perez said.

While Carlos Sainz deemed the whole incident as 'unfortunate', adding:

"I am convinced that I didn't do anything wrong. Honestly, a very unfortunate ending. I am glad that myself and Checo are okay," Sainz said.

Both Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were summoned to the race stewards to present their sides of the incident.