Perez fights back tears as F1 star gives baffling verdict on Mexico GP crash

29 October 2023 , 23:19

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Sergio Perez was emotional after crashing out of his home race (Image: Sky Sports)

Sergio Perez was close to tears after the "saddest" moment of his Formula 1 career – but insisted the risky overtake that led to his Mexican Grand Prix crash was "worth taking".

He got a great launch off the line and was fighting for the lead at the first corner. But he was on the outside with Charles Leclerc alongside him and Max Verstappen on the inside, all of whom were trying to come out of the corner in front.

Perez turned in earlier than the rest which led to contact with Leclerc, sending the Red Bull up into the air. The impact caused terminal damage to his car and so his dreams of another podium at home went up in smoke.

"I've had some really sad moments in my career, but certainly this the saddest one," he later told reporters, having spent time in the Red Bull garage to come to terms with what had happened.

"But at the end of the day, this is just racing. We gave it all, I knew that today. I really wanted to go for the win. I saw the gap, and I went for it.

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"I was not expecting Charles to brake that late because I was already ahead of him, and he was in the middle. So there's a lot less room for manoeuvre it was just too late, but with these wide cars, three cars don't go into one, I decided to take the risk, and I paid the price."

He insisted, though, that he had no regrets about attempting the move which ended his racer after just a few seconds. Perez added: "I feel, to be honest, that I would have let [the fans] down more if I didn't wait for it, if I'm honest. So I saw the gap, and I went for it I decided to take a risk.

"I knew it was going to be very risky. And I ended up paying the price. Risk-reward, it was a pretty high risk take, but it was worth taking. It's the last thing that you want to happen is just this the situation, but it's how it is we just have to look forward."

Leclerc went on to finish third and was booed loudly by fans in the post-race interview. The Ferrari racer tried to reason with them by telling them: "A lot of booing. Guys, honestly, I had nowhere to go.

"I was between two Red Bulls, we touched and damaged both our cars. I am disappointed to end Checo's race like that but I had nowhere to go. We struggled a bit with the hard at the restart, they [Mercedes] were just better today."

Daniel Moxon