Chaos in Monaco

Mega crash on lap 1: Perez’s car is wrecked!

Sergio Perez collided with the two Haas cars.(Bild: X/F1)

For several drivers, the Monaco Grand Prix was over after just a few seconds. While Carlos Sainz let his car roll out after a contact with Oscar Piastri, Sergio Perez collided with the two Haas drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. The Mexican's car was a wreck afterwards.

What had happened? Magnussen had tried to pass Perez on the inside a few seconds after the start of the race. In doing so, the Dane touched the Red Bull car, which was thrown into Hülkenberg's car at full throttle.

With four tires down, Perez's car was carried off the track, but the 34-year-old was thankfully uninjured and even spared an examination at the medical center.

Just a few moments earlier, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz had met his doom with a hasty overtaking maneuver. The Spaniard tried to pass Pisatri in turn one, but the two cars also came into contact, with the Ferrari sustaining damage and coming to a smoking halt. However, Sainz was able to get back into the car after the interruption.

Perez remained uninjured.(Bild: AFP/APA/POOL/CLAUDIA GRECO)

His car, however, was wrecked.(Bild: GEPA)

Magnussen blames Perez
Quite different from Magnussen ... "I trusted that he (Perez, ed.) would give me enough space. He should have done that - but he didn't," said the 31-year-old, blaming Perez. "I don't see why that should have been my fault." 

"It may have looked spectacular, but for me it wasn't a hard impact," explained team-mate Hülkenberg, who spoke of a "horror scenario" for Haas. The German also believes that Perez should have given Magnussen more space. The Red Bull driver sees things differently, of course, claiming after the race that he had no room to get out of the way. It is quite possible that there will be a conversation or two between four or six eyes ...