Perez explains what caused dramatic Turn 1 moment where he nearly tagged Verstappen in Miami.
“As soon as I dived [to the] inside of Charles, I could see as soon as I hit the brakes there was no grip at all, like we saw yesterday with Lewis,” said Perez. “Off-line here, especially into Turn 1, there’s no grip, zero grip down there, and I did struggle quite a bit unfortunately.”
07 May 2024
Formula One - Official Site

The six-time race winner failed to make much further ground throughout the rest of the race and ended the event in P5, before later being promoted to P4 after fourth-placed Sainz was handed a five-second time penalty for a collision with Oscar Piastri.

On why he had struggled to extract the same kind of pace he has displayed at recent races this season, Perez explained: “I think we were a bit off-balance. “[It’s] something we have to review [to find out] what was going on there, and then make the best possible course in that regard and learn from the race, because we certainly lacked some good pace today.”

Despite the difficulties, Perez’s result helped him to maintain second place in the drivers’ standings, with the 34-year-old currently holding 103 points. There is increasing pressure from Leclerc in third, however, who is just five points behind in third place.

‘No grip at all’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...EtTn7aMhBzSzpZ


Just how close did "lucky" Red Bull come to Miami GP "disaster"?
Sergio Perez almost took out Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen at the first corner of the Miami Grand Prix.
06 May 2024
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

Onboard footage from Perez’s car showed he came within inches of wiping out Verstappen before running wide and dropping down to fifth. “In hindsight, if I knew there was no grip on the inside, I wouldn’t have gone there in the first place,” said Perez, who finished fifth on the road but was promoted to fourth following a post-race penalty for Carlos Sainz.

"I went there because I thought it was going to be safe. But as soon as I hit the brakes, I could see that the car wouldn’t stop. I ended up front locking and I went straight. That meant basically that I nearly took Max out, so I had to release the brake to release the front locking.” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted Perez was “lucky” not to hit his teammate after what he described as being an “optimistic” start.

"His start was optimistic,” Horner explained. Charles didn't have a great start ahead, I think that caused Checo... he had to lift for Charles and then he had a window into the first corner. He went for it, obviously got in very deep and was lucky not to collect Max at the first turn and not to collect the Ferrari coming back onto the track. So I was pleased to see most cars survive that."

‘Just how close…’;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/104801...mi-gp-disaster


Perez’s car scratched Verstappen’s diffuser in first-lap lunge
6th May 2024, 12:07
Written by Keith Collantine

Sergio Perez admitted he came close to taking out his team mate Max Verstappen with his dive down the inside of turn one at the start of the Miami Grand Prix. He said he hadn’t realised how little grip there was at that point on the track, where Lewis Hamilton ran into Fernando Alonso the day before.

Verstappen said he was “very aware” of how close his team mate came to hitting him. “I turned in and I saw him lock up. I looked after the race, there was like a scratch on my diffuser, so something must have hit. But it was very close. Could have ended in a disaster, of course, for the team as well. [We were] lucky.”

‘A scratch on my diffuser’;

https://www.racefans.net/2024/05/06/...pens-diffuser/


Christian Horner and Max Verstappen say same thing about Sergio Perez act at Miami Grand Prix
Max Verstappen was almost taken out in the Miami Sprint Race as Sergio Perez locked up at the first corner with the Dutchman and Christian Horner grateful for the near miss
08:16 Wed, 08 May 2024.
By Samuel Meade Sports Brand Writer
The Mirror

Max Verstappen and Christian Horner both admitted they were relieved not to see a crash between the two Red Bulls in Miami.

Team principal Horner said: "His start was optimistic. Charles didn't have a great start ahead, I think that caused Checo... he had to lift for Charles and then he had a window into the first corner. He went for it, obviously got in very deep and was lucky not to collect Max at the first turn and not to collect the Ferrari coming back onto the track. So I was pleased to see most cars survive that."

Verstappen, the championship leader, was able to smile about the incident after the race. He was asked if he knew how close Perez came to hitting him and replied: "I was very aware. I turned it and saw him lock up and looked after the race, there was a scratch on my diffuser so something must've hit. It was very close, could've ended in disaster for the team as well. So yeah, lucky."

‘Grateful for the near miss’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...n-say-32758858


Perez talks us through Turn 1 moment when he almost hit team mate Verstappen
06 May 2024
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Sergio Perez said the lack of grip off line was to blame for the moment on the first lap when he almost tagged his Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen. Perez eventually finished in fifth place.

‘Perez talks us through Turn 1 moment’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...645539641.html


Formula 1 changes Miami Grand Prix results hours after the race
16:02 Mon, 06 May 2024
By Asher Fair
Beyond the Flag (Weblog)

Carlos Sainz Jr. was demoted from fourth to fifth place after the Miami Grand Prix, promoting Sergio Perez to fourth and altering the Formula 1 standings.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. initially finished Sunday's Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome in fourth place, but a post-race penalty has resulted in him being demoted to fifth in the sixth race of the 24-race 2024 Formula 1 season.

The stewards deemed after the race that Sainz was "predominantly to blame" for the contact and was issued a five-second time penalty and one penalty point on his FIA Super License. As a result, Sainz dropped to fifth place and Red Bull's Sergio Perez moved up to fourth.

‘Promoting Sergio Perez to fourth and altering the Formula 1 standings’;

https://beyondtheflag.com/posts/form...e-01hx75a73spe