2 weeks Ago By Ben Crawford
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is credited with causing the most expensive crash damages in this Formula One season – even ahead of two axed drivers. Despite starting the term strongly alongside peer Max Verstappen , the Mexican star has suffered a monumental drop-off as rival teams upped their game. This has left him eighth on the Drivers’ Championship table and without a podium since April.
To accompany this dip, Perez has also racked up a significant bill for the damages he’s caused his team, with an unofficial table dubbed the ‘Destructors’ Championship’ placing the 34-year-old highest, above Logan Sergeant, the table’s topper in 2023, and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu - both of whom will be out of a seat come next year. In fact, Sargeant has already been replaced at Williams by Franco Colapinto, meaning that the dismal Perez’s nearly £4million bill outweighs that of an already axed driver, increasing the mounting pressure on the Austrian team to find a replacement. Though not an official source, the table reveals that Perez caused costly damages in China, Imola, Monaco, Canada, Austria, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Mexico.
The estimated £3.7m in damages Perez accumulated, however, was largely due to his huge entanglement in Monaco, involving Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Niko Hulkenberg. In the first lap, with cars bunching close, Magnussen caught Perez’s rear left and sent him spinning into the barriers.
Both Magnussen and his peer Hulkenberg sustained significant damage, too, and their races ended prematurely. The bill assigned to Perez supposedly topped £2m. "It's another accident in which Magnussen was involved.
You should watch the replays carefully. Thank God it turned out well, but it was a very critical situation,” Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko told Sky Germany back in May when asked about the incident - which caused a 40-minute delay to proceedings. "I was surprised how quickly they put this incident behind them.
These are decisions that you can hardly influence. On the one hand, there is the danger and on the other hand, the damage is two to three million [euros]. With the budget regulations, that is a big handicap for us.
" Another of Perez’s pricey collisions came in Azerbaijan, when, on the penultimate lap, the Mexican grappled with Ferrari ’s Carlos Sainz , ending both of their races. “It is a pathetic touch, an absolutely pathetic touch, with serious ramifications!” former F1 driver Mark Webber told Channel 4 when covering Perez and Sainz’s crash. “Sergio is trying to get across into the tow.
At this speed, it’s fine margins. Sergio’s repair bill this year is impressive. He’s got more of the Ferrari in view, when you’re [looking in] the mirror, you’re not quite sure where he should be.
Sergio should have given him more room to get down that straight. Next up on the calendar is the Las Vegas GP, where Perez will look to limit any further damages and embarrassment as his peer Verstappen looks to stamp down a decisive claim on what would be his fourth Drivers’ Championship title..
