The Red Bull driver’s race came to an abrupt end early on when he collided with Kevin Magnussen from Haas. This collision caused severe damage to both cars involved, as well as to Nico Hulkenberg’s car, who is also a teammate of the Red Bull driver.
Perez’s early retirement marked the end of a disastrous weekend for the Mexican. He faced stability issues in his RB20 during qualifying and ended up in 18th place. On the other hand, his teammate and current championship leader, Max Verstappen, also struggled with drivability issues throughout the weekend but managed to complete the entire race and secure points with a sixth-place finish.
After the race, Perez blamed Magnussen for causing the accident that prematurely ended both races. He expressed his disappointment that the incident was not investigated, considering the significant damage and danger involved. Perez stated: “I think the move was unnecessary, we suffered a lot of damage, and it was a very dangerous incident. I was disappointed it wasn’t investigated, it was a huge crash, and my car is completely destroyed.”
Despite suffering a minor injury, Perez acknowledged that safety improvements in the F1 regulations played a crucial role in preventing more serious damage. He expressed gratitude for the progress made in ensuring safety in the sport. Perez concluded: “Safety in F1 has come a long way, and for that, I am grateful. It was a bad weekend for all of us, and it’s frustrating, but I trust my team with my car before Canada, and I hope we come back very strong.”
The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, shared Perez’s assessment of the accident and criticized Magnussen for not giving enough space. Horner expressed his disappointment with the incident and emphasized the importance of Perez’s safety. He said: “He not only damaged his car but also took our car out of the race, but fortunately Checo came out unscathed, which is the most important thing.”
Horner acknowledged that Red Bull has significant work to do to address the issues with their RB20 package before the Canadian Grand Prix. He stated: “I would say it was a tough weekend and Monaco is always dictated by qualifying performance, so we faced many challenges before today. We have a lot of data to analyze from this weekend and we will carefully examine everything in the coming weeks before Canada.”
The Canadian Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, June 9, with the race starting at 19:00 BST (14:00 local time).
