Sergio Perez admitted he came close to taking out his team mate Max Verstappen with his dive down the inside of turn one at the start of the Miami Grand Prix.
He said he hadn’t realised how little grip there was at that point on the track, where Lewis Hamilton ran into Fernando Alonso the day before.“As soon as I dived in the inside of Charles [Leclerc], I could see that as soon as I hit the brakes, there was no grip at all,” said Perez after the race. “Like we saw yesterday with Lewis, off line here, especially in the turn one, there is zero grip down there.”
Perez’s RB20 passed perilously close to that of Verstappen. The pair avoided making contact, but Perez ran wide at the first corner, forcing Carlos Sainz Jnr to take avoiding action.
“In hindsight, if I knew there was no grip on the inside, I wouldn’t have gone there in the first place,” Perez told Sky. “I went there because I thought it was going to be safe.
“But as soon as I hit the brakes, I could see that the car wouldn’t stop. I ended up front locking and I went straight.
“That meant basically that I nearly took Max out, so I had to release the brake to release the front locking.”
Verstappen said he was “very aware” of how close his team mate came to hitting him. “I turned in and I saw him lock up.
“I looked after the race, there was like a scratch on my diffuser, so something must have hit.
“But it was very close. Could have ended in a disaster, of course, for the team as well. [We were] lucky.”
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2024 Miami Grand Prix
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- Norris expects more wins this year and believes “100%” in 2025 title bid
bosyber (@bosyber)
6th May 2024, 12:17
Hm, I wonder if perhaps Perez might have reflected on that sprint incident he mentioned before making that move, rather than afterwards?
Yellow Baron
6th May 2024, 22:35
How could max have seen him just after he turned in, the mirrors can show that wide?
I’m actually more surprised that that split second moment he could help him and then alosnspot that he was locking up. That’s mad
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
6th May 2024, 12:27
Channeled some bowling with Bottas but gutter balled it.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
6th May 2024, 13:34
For context, I’m pretty sure Alonso was playing bumper cars already when stroll cut across the corner long before Lewis got there. Not great driving from either Stroll or Lewis. However, only luck prevented Perez’s actions being far more destructive.
David BR (@david-br)
6th May 2024, 15:25
@stjs16 Or conversely great driving from Lewis who maintained far more control over the car.
What are drivers supposed to do if they venture off line on relatively unknown circuits and discover there’s far less grip than expected? It’s racing. Hamilton did little wrong: there were four cars involved in the incident and really people need to get a grip and realized drivers can’t factor in the velocities and trajectories of 4 cars going into one corner in microseconds (presuming Hamilton even had any idea Norris was on the far side).
That’s why the stewards saw it as a racing incident.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
6th May 2024, 21:18
Whilst I partially agree, ultimately Hamilton did hit another car. It was a first corner incident, but not worthy of the comments made by Alonso, who conveniently ignored the fact that Stroll cut across his path.
David BR (@david-br)
6th May 2024, 22:24
If you look at the overhead (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hxn1m-jdyk), Alonso is turning left slightly towards Stroll and then Stroll turns into Alonso, colliding, well before Lewis even arrives! He’s two car widths away from the colliding pair. As they proceed around the corner, Alonso gets sandwiched.
You can bet that had Lewis and Stroll been reversed, Alonso would have still been blaming Hamilton (for turning into him). Why? because it’s Hamilton and also Hamilton’s dad doesn’t own the team.
Why did it happen? Norris tries to pass Stroll on the inside, but switches to the outside (left). So Stroll clearly kept out left longer than normal to leave no space for Norris before turning into the corner and his team mate. Even if Hamilton hadn’t been there, they’d have collided.
elchinero (@elchinero)
7th May 2024, 14:04
But, but, but, but it’s LEWIS!
David BR (@david-br)
6th May 2024, 22:29
@stjs16 Sorry should have added: yes Hamilton hit another car – that was pushed into him by Stroll…
So the question is: should Hamilton not have legitimately gone for the gap just because then Alonso would have had more space to minimize the contact from his reckless team mate driving into him?
I think that’s a self-answering question.
MadLewis (@madlewis)
6th May 2024, 13:37
Torpedo Perez
Jere (@jerejj)
6th May 2024, 13:38
He came like a torpedo & I can only imagine the scene if he’d inadvertently taken out Max.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
6th May 2024, 13:40
I noticed a sponsor on Checo’s cap as he reflected on the incident, a certain four-fingered chocolate snake, and I thought he may have mis-remembered the correlating slogan. Something like “hit the brakes, hit a team-mate”
MichaelN
6th May 2024, 14:12
Not surprised, that looked super close. Pérez had the right idea, but as with his earlier attempts to make up for a lackluster qualifying in turn one, the move wasn’t executed quite as well as he might have imagined. Luckily it all went well.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th May 2024, 14:23
What?
I don’t know what he expected, really. The track was dusty even after half the race was completed. This place is not used during the year AND there was the precedent of Lewis the day before.
Think about how red Helmut Marko’s eyes would have been after the race is Perez t-boned Max this stupidly.
Retep
6th May 2024, 16:11
At most one eye of Helmut Marco would have been red.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
6th May 2024, 16:16
I think the other would’ve turned red too, incredibly.
Mr A
6th May 2024, 17:15
Either it hit or it didn’t. And it didn’t.
So what is Max on about?
j sc
6th May 2024, 20:11
I’m also thinking the same thing. It was pretty close for sure, but unable to find evidence from the onboard cam that P actually touched V. Anyone?
j sc
6th May 2024, 20:25
The charging Ferraris didn’t expect P to appear like that between them and V. Wondering if the move, as bold as it was, actually gave V some advantage over the charging Ferraris. V seems to be the only one accelerating during that odd second while P was playing peek a boo in front of the Ferraris.
Tristan
6th May 2024, 21:44
All this talk about P’s and V’s is pretty suss, how hard is it to write Max and Checo, haha.
Joao Macedo
7th May 2024, 6:58
I agree but since the comment is from “j sc”…
Coventry Climax
7th May 2024, 10:56
That’s a commonly occurring degenerative social media disease: Most of the current generation seem to have an attention span that does not stretch beyond the first character of words anymore, with a huge effect on matters of cause and effect.
elchinero (@elchinero)
7th May 2024, 14:05
10-4
ludewig
7th May 2024, 11:24
We want to know whether P went into V!
Tom Baker
7th May 2024, 19:00
When I was a lad it would have been very confusing. Particularly if following Akfa Romeo in 1950, when would never have been sure if F was in front of F but behind F, or if it was F in front of F who wS in front of F, or if F was between F and F.
Nurse! Bring my whisky!
Tom Baker
7th May 2024, 19:04
You see! So head spinning that I’ve just invented a new team. Maybe Afka Romeo would have been a better rebrand than Ķickass Sauber or whatever it’s called.
What the F !
Nurse!!!
Tom Baker
7th May 2024, 19:06
Or indeed Kafka Romeo.
Very apt, one thinks.
Ah thank you Nurse, that’s much better now.