Reuters
Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 13, 2021 Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in action during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Reuters
Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 13, 2021 Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in action during testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The single biggest talking point from the first free practice session in Imola was the collision between Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon that brought out the red flags. However, what was bizarre about the incident was that no one quite knew what happened because not a single camera caught it. But now finally we have some light shed on the event.
As speculated earlier, it was indeed a collision and not that Ocon ran into Perez’s debris after the latter spun out in Turn 5.
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The end result of that collision was both cars sustained damage and were ruled out of the remainder of FP1, of which there were only 15 minutes left.
Also Read: Emilia Romagna GP: Nikita Mazepin Suffers Embarrassing Spin In FP1 at Imola
RED FLAG 🔴
The session is halted as Sergio Perez has a problem with his rear left wheel – and Esteban Ocon suffers collateral damage 👀
Both are out of their cars and their FP1 is over #ImolaGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/aZKrVqdAGm
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 16, 2021
No action taken on either Sergio Perez or Esteban Ocon for collision
After their tangle, both drivers were summoned by the Stewards. Perez and Ocon were both sporting. They acknowledged the fact that neither was to blame for the incident. And in the end the Stewards passed their verdict stating neither driver would be penalized.
The Stewards then proceeded to publish a report of their decision.
This report stated, “Ocon slowed before Turn 5 in order to let Perez by, as well as moving entirely to the inside of the turn. Perez was on a fast lap. The two cars reached the apex at the same time, and just barely touched wheels.
🚩 RED FLAG 🚩 Checo has picked up some damage and his session is over. Back to the garage to get him up and running again for FP2 🔧👊 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/zd481bBeDj
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) April 16, 2021
“In the end, both drivers agreed in the hearing that it was an unfortunate miscommunication of timing between them, not helped by the fact that both drivers had limited or no communications with their teams at the time.
“Both drivers agreed that neither was at fault. The Stewards therefore take no further action.”
Perez and Ocon ended FP1 as the 16 and 17 fastest drivers on display. Neither would have wanted that ahead of a big weekend. However, they’d be grateful for the fact that neither car seems totally damaged.
It remains to be seen whether they’ll get a shot to hit the track in FP2. But one can be rest assured they’d be ready to take on qualifying on Saturday.
Can Perez and Ocon put this crash behind them and push for a solid grid position tomorrow? We shall soon see.
