Max Verstappen, the driver for Red Bull Racing, narrowly avoided a collision at the start of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix thanks to his teammate Sergio Perez’s risky maneuver. Perez, starting from fourth on the grid, took advantage of Charles Leclerc’s slow start and attempted to pass Verstappen on the inside of Turn 1. However, Perez braked too late and came dangerously close to hitting Verstappen. Fortunately, Verstappen managed to maintain his lead while Perez dropped back to fifth place. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner acknowledged that the team was fortunate to avoid a crash and attributed Perez’s move to Leclerc’s poor start.
Horner described Perez’s start as “optimistic” and explained that he had an opportunity to overtake due to Leclerc’s slow start. Despite going deep into the corner and nearly colliding with Verstappen, Perez was able to avoid a crash. Horner expressed relief that most cars survived the incident.
Perez compared his situation to a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton in the earlier Sprint race. He mentioned that he struggled with grip and locked up his brakes while trying to pass Verstappen. As a result, he lost a position to Oscar Piastri. Perez admitted that he was unfortunate with his performance and acknowledged the team’s need to address their pace issues.
Verstappen revealed that he was aware of how close Perez came to hitting his car during the right-hander. He even noticed a scratch on his diffuser after the race, indicating that something had made contact. Verstappen acknowledged that the situation could have ended in disaster for the team and considered himself lucky to have avoided a crash.