Mercedes F1 development driver Esteban Gutierrez commented on the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix lap one incident that ended the race for Red Bull driver Sergio Perez,
Last Weekend's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ended in a devastating way for the home driver, Sergio Perez when he had to retire after the first lap.
The collision that put Perez out of the race looked like a driver mistake on his part. However, Charles Leclerc, who was also involved in the incident showed support to the Red Bull driver.
Leclerc told the media during the post-race conference he didn't think Perez was aware they were going three wide into the corner with Max Verstappen on his right-hand side.
Mercedes testing driver Esteban Gutierrez shared his view of the incident in an episode of the F1 Nation podcast after the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
"I think he was really brave for trying that move. I mean, in that kind of situation, as a driver, when you get such a good start, you go all in sometimes. And that's when you sometimes find yourself in that kind of situation."
Gutierrez thought it was rather brave from Perez to try that move. Of course, we can imagine it would have been overtake of the year if Perez managed to pull it off. However, he did not and he paid for it.
"There was a bit of bad luck. An unlucky position there as well because Max moved a bit to the left and then squeezed Charles, and then, of course, Charles had nowhere to go."
Whenever there are three cars going into the corner on an open track, the car on the outside (in this case, Sergio Perez) has the most space for maneuvering and can basically determine whether the collision will happen or not.
The Mercedes development driver concluded it might have been "a bit too aggressive" from the Mexican to try and go for the move.
"So, if you think about it, yes, it was probably a bit too aggressive. But yeah, it's just a shame. But I'm sure he'll recover quickly."