'He Couldn’t Lift Off': Perez's Actions Causing The Crash Explained By Jenson Button

Tuesday, 31 October 2023 at 21:56

F1 World Champion Jenson Button gave insight into the first-lap incident caused by Red Bull driver Sergio Perez at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.

The incident between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc on lap one of last Sunday's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez has been one of the main talking points of F1 experts over the past two days.

The collision was caused by Sergio Perez, who tried to turn into the corner, not realizing Leclerc on his right-hand side had nowhere to move.

As a result of the crash, Perez had to retire after the first lap at his home race. While some people said it was a mistake to try and turn into the corner like that, Jenson Button said after the race:

"This is the issue when you have cars that start really well, and cars that don’t. And the drag is so long into Turn 1. What is Checo supposed to do?"

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According to Button, if Perez tried to back out of the move around the outside, it could have just caused more mayhem in the turn one.

"He couldn’t lift off, and pull in behind, because there were cars there. So they would have had the opportunity to dive down the outside of him and cause mayhem. It’s a tricky one."

The 43-year-old explained the great start of the two Red Bull drivers is what caused the incident as Verstappen got alongside Ferrari drivers too soon, and Perez from fifth place was the only one getting the slipstream.

"The start itself, for Max, was great down the middle. But then he got into a position where he hasn’t got to tow. It was a drag race down into Turn 1. They did push Carlos out of the way, a little. That gave Checo the chance to go for the outside."

In the end, Button concluded something similar to what Charles Leclerc said during the post-race conference. Perez probably didn't know the Ferrari had nowhere to go and did not cause the crash on purpose.

"Three-into-one does not work. Charles had nowhere to go. Checo? I think he thought there was enough room for Charles on the inside, else he wouldn’t have turned in. He didn’t want to crash. He just didn’t judge the situation."