Sergio Perez has dismissed the social media furore surrounding his behaviour following his penultimate lap crash with Carlos Sainz at the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix.
After the two drivers collided in the race-ending incident, a video went viral on social media showing the Mexican appearing to hit the Ferrari driver in the head.
However, Perez has explained that he only wanted to let the Spaniard know that he was communicating with him, and that the video made it look “worse” than it actually was.
“I was talking to Carlos when he was looking down,” the Red Bull driver told the media.
“I told him I was talking to him, I didn’t push him. It looks worse on the video than it actually was.”
The 34-year-old added: “Carlos is one of my best friends in the team, so the last person I want to be with is Carlos.
“We’ve turned the page and hopefully we can both have a great race [in Singapore].”
Social media can be ‘very toxic’
In the end, the track stewards declared the crash a racing accident, with neither driver being deemed primarily or wholly responsible for the collision.
While battling for position with Charles Leclerc, the pair found themselves side by side in the race between Turns 2 and 3 in Baku.
As Sainz, who was leading, drifted towards the track, the two cars collided, sending both into the wall.
For Perez, this denied him and the Ferrari driver a podium finish, especially as Sainz’s teammate began to struggle with his tyres.
However, the six-time grand prix winner feels it is now “irrelevant” who to blame, admitting that when the pair spoke, they realised “they both screwed up”, which they were “extremely, extremely sad about”.
In response to the backlash from the incident and the online fallout, Perez explained that it was best for the driver to “stay away” from the “very toxic” environment that is social media.
“I have to say that sometimes social media can be very toxic in this regard,” he said.
“So it’s best to stay away, because most people don’t know the exact truth, and the truth is that we are both extremely disappointed.
“[It’s] not like I hit him on the head, or some of the comments that I’ve seen. I have nothing to say about that.
“Carlos knew exactly and we actually walked together after coming back to the paddock, and we were both incredibly disappointed with ourselves after such a race, what we did, how we ended our week.”
