Sainz left bewildered by Baku crash as stewards declare no penalty

Tough crash for Pérez and Sainz on the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan GP. Carlos had overtaken the Mexican at Turn 1 after getting ahead of Leclerc. Coming out of Turn 2, Sainz edged in front at the apex while the Mexican attempted to pass his team mate on the inside. The Spaniard followed the usual line and opened slightly to the left following the slipstream of the other Ferrari.

But in the first few metres of the back straight, Pérez’s right front wheel caught the left side of Sainz’s car and the two went straight into the wall, colliding at high speed. Both cars were exceeding 230 kilometres per hour and had the DRS (Drag Reduction System) open at the time of contact.

Sainz gives his version of Baku crash

Before going to the stewards to explain himself, Sainz gave his version of events to AS: “I did my normal racing line, the one we all do on every lap. When you exit turn two you turn a little to the left, but without doing anything strange or erratic. Charles in front of me also went to the left and so I followed his line. Checo decides not to leave space… but I don’t know, it’s too early to say...”

He added, “I’m fine, it was a big accident and I hit the concrete barriers. I was going very fast behind Charles and Checo, I had saved tires and I overtook Checo while I was battling with Charles. And then I didn’t do any strange maneuvers and for some reason that I still don’t understand, we crashed. I think [Pérez] had quite a bit of space (on the left) so it’s a strange move. I guess that’s how racing is, these things sometimes happen two laps from the end,” lamented the Ferrari driver.

After listening to the audios from both cars and examining race data from the positioning system, video and on-board camera footage, FIA commissioners decided that there was no infringement and therefore, no penalty. The stewards assessed the dynamics of the accident, what happened as a consequence and concluded that it was a race contact.

“Neither driver drove erratically and, in fact, both kept their steering very neutral,” the statement issued by the FIA read. The stewards, having seen all the evidence, considered that both Sainz and Perez drove on their driving line and even assure that the Mexican could have avoided contact.

“Although Sainz was ahead and had the right to follow his line, he moved slightly towards a car of which he had a limited view. At the same time, there was nothing unusual about Perez’s line, but he could have done more to avoid the car he had a better view of”.

In any case, the two Ferrari drivers both ended up losing as a result of the crash - Sainz missed out on an almost certain podium that would have cut short a not-so-positive streak, while Pérez ended up empty-handed after having his best race of 2024.