Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he “can’t blame” Sergio Perez for his aggressive move into the first corner.
Although there was much hype for a return of performance for Perez, the local hero barely made one turn at last weekend’s race.
Attempting an ambitious move on the outside of Charles Leclerc, the Mexican had to retire.
Catching serious air-time and taking terminal damage to the sidepod, his frustration was clear when he pulled into the pits.
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However, as a team sport, Red Bull also shared the pain with their driver.
Horner said: “I’m absolutely gutted to see Checo go out on the first corner, he had probably his best start of the season, got the draft and the tow from the three cars ahad, so arrived with massive over-speed.
“You can’t blame hm, at his home race, going to try to take the lead of the grand prix.”
Despite not blaming Perez, he also stated he couldn’t blame Leclerc.
Finishing third, the Monegasque received a wall of noise from upset fans once out of the car.
He said: “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.
“Frustrating for checo, and really disappointing for his fans to lose him at the first corner. The guys did their best to get him back out but there was too much damage to the floor and underbody of the car. You could see on the replay that Charles was in a but of a Red Bull sandwich.”
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Horner noted that he consoled Perez once out of the car, offering him keen advice.
While there are rumours that Mexico was Perez’s last race in Red Bull, the team principal subtly squashed the suggestion.
He said: “it’s in front of his home crowd, and he was very emotionsl, and I just said to him: ‘he 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.’”
He also believed without the incident, Perez would have been on the podium.
Not only that, but he had enough pace to show he could have challenged teammate Max Verstappen.
He said: “It would have been a straight fight between the two of them. Checo had good pace this weekend, it’s just frustrating that it was a first corner incident. That was my fear going into the race.”
Perez has been lucky to keep second in the drivers world championship. Lewis Hamilton has had several opportunities to close the gap.
Halted by an incident in Qatar and disqualification in Austin, he managed to half the gap this weekend.
However, Horner believes Perez will keep the position with three races to go.
He said: “There are 20 points between him and Lewis. He’s had some misfortune, he’s had some issues, but we still believe he can do it between now and the end of the year.”
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