Sergio Perez has questioned the decision from the stewards to not investigate his first-lap crash with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in Monaco, which he dubbed a “massive incident”.
The Red Bull driver was climbing the hill after Sainte Devote but was tagged at the rear of his car by Magnussen, which sent Perez spearing into the barrier – making contact with the second Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in the process and knocking all three drivers out of contention.
Sergio Perez ‘very disappointed’ Kevin Magnussen contact was not investigated
Perez saw a huge amount of damage on his RB20 but was able to walk back to the garage after the impact, with Red Bull confirming he did not need to visit the medical centre for checks as a result of the impact.
What did frustrate him, however, was the fact the FIA stewards opted not to investigate the incident – with greater leniency often placed on incidents that took place on the first lap.
But despite that, Perez pointed out that his car was “completely destroyed” and believed it was a “massive incident” that took place,
“I lost a position to one of the Alfas [Sauber, sic], and obviously, it’s lap one, it’s just important if you’re not in the right position, automatically you’re going to end up losing,” he told F1 TV after his retirement.
“So I was getting out of the corner, basically, if you see my onboard, there is no point where you see Kevin.
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“I was just pretty surprised that he kept it flat at that point, because it was just very unnecessary, we had a lot of damage.
“We had a very dangerous incident and also very disappointed that it didn’t get investigated, because it was a massive incident.
“My car is completely destroyed and I have a lot of damage.
“It’s very, very frustrating but I trust my team, it hasn’t been a straightforward weekend but we will come back very strong.”
The non-finish for Perez saw him fall to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship, with Charles Leclerc taking an emotional first victory at his home race and the Red Bull driver also falling behind the tallies of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
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