Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing driver, narrowly avoided a collision at the start of the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix, thanks to his teammate Sergio Perez’s risky maneuver. Perez, starting from fourth on the grid, took advantage of Charles Leclerc’s slow start and tried to overtake Verstappen on the inside of Turn 1. However, Perez braked too late and came dangerously close to hitting Verstappen. Fortunately, Verstappen managed to maintain the lead while Perez dropped to fifth place. Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, acknowledged that the team was lucky to avoid an accident and attributed Perez’s maneuver to Leclerc’s poor start.
Horner described Perez’s start as “optimistic” and explained that he had the opportunity to overtake due to Leclerc’s slow start. Despite going deep into the corner and nearly colliding with Verstappen, Perez managed to avoid an accident. Horner expressed relief that most cars survived the incident.
Perez compared his situation to a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton in the previous Sprint race. He mentioned that he struggled with grip and locked up the brakes while trying to overtake Verstappen. As a result, he lost a position to Oscar Piastri. Perez admitted he was unlucky with his performance and acknowledged the team’s need to address their pace issues.
Verstappen revealed that he was aware of how close Perez came to hitting his car in the right-hand corner. He even noticed a scratch on his diffuser after the race, indicating that something had made contact. Verstappen acknowledged that the situation could have ended in disaster for the team and considered himself lucky to have avoided an accident.
