‘Aggressive’ Carlos Sainz move causes Red Bull ‘avalanche’ ahead of Singapore

Helmut Marko criticised Carlos Sainz over an “unnecessary” move in his late Baku shunt with Sergio Perez, which had an “avalanche” effect for Red Bull.

Sainz took advantage of Perez’s late-race battle with Charles Leclerc, making the pass on Perez out of Turn 1 and looking for a run on Leclerc, only for Perez to pull alongside Sainz as a collision followed, the duo hitting the wall hard and thankfully walking away unscathed.

‘Avalanche’ of consequences from Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crash

And with three laps remaining, it was an incident which had Red Bull senior advisor Marko criticising former Toro Rosso driver Sainz.

“I think Sainz made quite an aggressive move,” Marko told Formu1a.uno.

“It was unnecessary three from the end. A lot of damage, we lost a lot of points in the Constructors‘.”

Marko would point out how the race concluding under Virtual Safety Car conditions cost Max Verstappen a shot at the fastest lap bonus point, picked up by Norris as he took a further three points out of Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead, now down to 59 points.

The swing in the Constructors’ meanwhile as Perez dropped out and Norris gained two spots to finish P4 saw McLaren displace Red Bull at the top of the standings, as Marko was left to rue the flood of implications.

“With the fastest lap, we would have lost only one point [to Norris], not three. It was like an avalanche,” said Marko.

Next up this weekend is the Singapore Grand Prix, that the scene of Red Bull’s only defeat in a remarkable 2023 season that saw them win 21 of the 22 races.

And while Marko is urging calm, Perez appears set to continue feeling the implications of that Baku incident, a venue where Perez remains the only multi-time grand prix winner.

“There’s no need to panic,” said Marko. “But Checo’s car is heavily damaged, so we will have problems with the parts we have, and the right setup.

“I think it’s now more to make a car for Checo so he can race. So the real potential we will see in Austin.”

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez head-to-head in F1 2024

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While the Red Bull RB20 started out as the benchmark in F1 2024, their dominance has disappeared with the team now winless in their last seven races.

A special livery was due to be run for the Singapore and Austin rounds, but that plan has been axed, the team concerned over the potential performance implications.

“Unfortunately, when we came to the testing phase of what some REBL CUSTMS designs could look like in real life on the RB20, we found the paint used to create these bespoke full car takeover liveries added unforeseen and undue weight to the bodywork of the RB20,” read a statement from the team.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance and the team are continuing to prioritise making this car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season.

“As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we must let you know the team has made the decision to not run the REBL CUSTMS liveries on the RB20 at the Singapore and United States GPs.”

The Red Bull junior team VCARB will run a special denim-inspired livery in Singapore, designed by their apparel partner HUGO.

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