Ferrari duo relieved not to be taken out at start by ‘torpedo’ Sergio Perez
Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc take aim at Sergio Perez after a wild start in Miami.
Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were relieved not to be taken out by an out-of-control Sergio Perez at the start of the F1 Miami Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Perez locked up and overshot the first corner, before running wide as he narrowly avoided tagging teammate Max Verstappen.
Ferrari duo Sainz and Leclerc also had a near-miss with Perez, with the Spaniard losing out on a couple of places as he slowed to avoid the wayward Red Bull.
Leclerc eventually finished third behind Lando Norris and Verstappen, while teammate Sainz came home fourth.
"I think today, everyone was racing very hard,” Sainz said.
“First Checo at the start, like they said in the old days with Seb [Vettel], 'he came like a torpedo' and nearly took us all with him and lost me two positions.
"From then on, I was very quick. I saved my tyres and didn't catch the Safety Car for one lap, which could have given us the win.
"Then frustrated with Oscar, because he clearly pushed us off track and cost us to lose time with Charles and Max.
"I saw the stewards were not being very aggressive today with penalties, so I had to be aggressive to send it."
Leclerc felt Perez was “way too optimistic” in his attempts to make up early ground.
“After the first lap I couldn’t believe I was still in the race because of what happened in the first corner,” he said.
“I think Checo was way too optimistic. It was very, very tricky.
“After that we just didn’t have the pace. McLaren was unbelievably quick today. Lando was really impressive.
“We expected them to be strong, we expected Lando to be strong. The weird thing was that in SQ2 Lando did a lap and I was like ‘ok, they are incredibly quick’ and then we never really saw that performance again.
“We weren’t sure if it was one special lap or not but in the race they confirmed that they were very, very strong.
“Lando did an amazing job. I’m obviously really happy for him. It’s always a special moment, the first victory, and he deserves it. So it’s great seeing him achieve his first win.”
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