Sergio Perez dramatically crashed out from the 2023 Mexico City GP after contact with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the first corner of the opening lap, in a three-wide situation which also involved his team-mate Max Verstappen. Afterwards, the Mexican admitted he “definitely” could have left Leclerc more space than he did when the pair collided.
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Perez got a great start from fifth on the grid and was briefly into the lead as himself, Leclerc and Verstappen all charged down to the first corner – but a misjudgement from the Mexican meant he turned in too early for the apex, and violently clobbered the Ferrari with his rear right tyre, which sent him momentarily into the air and out of the race due to the consequent damage.
Speaking to selected media after the race, the home hero admitted he could have “definitely” left the Monegasque some more racing space as the pair headed to the first turn, but insisted it was a “racing incident” and he consciously decided to “take a risk”:
“Yes, definitely yes,” he said when asked if he could have left more space for the Ferrari driver. “But I was not expecting Charles to brake that late because I was already ahead of him and he was in the middle so he has a lot less room for manoeuvre.
“So once you commit to the braking zone at those speeds, it’s just too late. But obviously there’s always, you know, with these wide cars, three cars in the turn one, it’s not going to end up well, but you decide to take a risk. I decided to take it, and I paid the price.”
The Mexican added that he is “proud” of himself and his team for giving their maximum for a win, and not settling for a podium which was “not enough” for them at this race:
“At the end of the day, this is just racing and I go very sad home, but I also go very proud of my team, of myself. We gave it all and I knew that today a podium was not enough for me and I really wanted to go for the win. I saw the gap and I went for it.
“It’s a weekend where I risked it all to go for the win. The pace was there, but it just didn’t happen, and this is just how racing is.
“I’ve been here long enough to understand that you have days like this, but what makes me feel proud is that I gave it all, you know, and that’s it.”
On the receiving end of the crash was Charles Leclerc, who explained he had “nowhere to go” given he had Verstappen on the inside line, and admitted he was “surprised” he could still carry on despite some significant damage to his front wing and bodywork after the contact:
“I mean, I had nowhere to go. I tried to stay on the right as much as possible, as close as I could to Max. But unfortunately, there was no space anymore for me to be any more to the right. I think Checo was probably not aware that I had Max on my right and started to turn in.
“And when I saw that, I knew that we will collide at one point, which we did. And after that, I was extremely surprised that I could the finish the race anyway.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s F1 team principal and CEO, defended Perez’s approach to the start, saying he “can’t blame” the Mexican’s all-or-nothing approach for a chance to lead his home grand prix, also describing the contact as a racing incident:
“I’m absolutely gutted to see Checo go out on the first corner,” said Horner. “He had probably his best start of the season, got the draft and the tow from the three cars ahead, so arrived with massive over-speed.
“And you can’t blame him, at his home race, going to try to take the lead of the grand prix. I think you’d have to call it a racing incident, because three into one doesn’t go, and Charles, obviously, couldn’t get out of it and he braked late.”
Horner believes Perez would “without a doubt” have been on the podium if he had got away from the first corner, and said it was a “big loss” to have him out of the race right away:
“It’s a tough moment for him,” he said. “It’s in front of his home crowd, and he was very emotional, and I just said to him, ‘The next race is next week. You’re going for the lead in your home race, you wouldn’t be a racing driver if you weren’t going for it’.
“I think he would have been on the podium for sure without a shadow of a doubt. It’s a big loss for him here with a car that was capable of being on the podium.”
