WATCH: Heartbreaking Scenes From Perez's Cockpit After Home Race DNF

Tuesday, 31 October 2023 at 08:30

Sergio Perez wanted to prove his qualities in front of the home fans at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, but his race ended already after the first lap.

With Red Bull seemingly still having the fastest car around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Mexican driver had a chance to challenge his teammate Max Verstappen for the win, or at least attempt to finish on the podium.

And a few seconds into the start, it seemed that it may be a reality. Perez had a great start, the best out of all of the drivers, technically leading into the first turn, but that's when the disaster struck.

Possibly too eager to lead after the first turn, Perez collided with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, damaging his opponent's car, but also eliminating himself from the race, as he wasn't able to continue with the sustained damage.

It was a real heartbreak for Perez, who is one of the lucky drivers to have a home race, but this time around, the Mexican fans left the circuit empty-handed. Everyone knew it was a disastrous ending for Perez, and he admitted his motivation shortly after the incident.

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"I’m second in the championship, there are still three races to go, and I tried to go for the win at my home Grand Prix. I mean, what else could I have done? I saw the gap, I went for it. I risked it too much, but I wanted the win today."

Obviously, the home Grand Prix means a lot for the Mexican driver, and that's also why he was completely gutted when he returned to the pits. A camera footage from his car shows really disappointed Perez, who knows that he disappointed himself and thousands of fans.

But despite the disappointment, Perez still got a lot of support from the team principal, Christian Horner, who witnessed Verstappen dominate the race and record his 16th win of the season.

"He was very emotional as you can imagine, but he is a racing driver – he had to go for it. You can’t place the blame on any of the drivers, three into one is always going to be tough into one corner. And he had a rocket ship start, probably his best start of the year. And he was going for it in front of his home crowd."