Horner delivers scathing verdict after Perez crash: 'Not very smart'

For Red Bull Racing, the Monaco Grand Prix was one to quickly forget. Max Verstappen got no further than his starting position in the race: P6. Things ended even worse for Sergio Perez: he was involved a heavy crash after making contact with Kevin Magnussen. Afterwards, a frustrated Christian Horner appeared in front of the media.

Horner: 'He didn't just mess up his own race'

The stewards decided not to investigate the incident between Perez and Magnussen. Neither Helmut Marko nor Perez could find any sympathy for that. Horner fully agrees. "I was surprised it wasn't investigated, because it was quite a hefty incident," said the Red Bull team boss in the paddock of the Circuit de Monaco.

"Kevin had a wheel up the inside in a part of the track that only ever narrows, and you would have expected him to back out. And not only has he destroyed Checo's race and the car, he's also destroyed his teammate's race. So not very clever," is Horner's fierce verdict.

As Marko pointed out, Perez's RB20 was significantly damaged. Marko estimated the damage at around two to three million euros. "I don't know on the engine and the chassis, but obviously a significant accident. So it's a costly one, very costly," Horner added.

Horner on Verstappen's concerns

Asked about Max Verstappen's concerns about the Formula 1 car's weaknesses, which the Dutchman says have been present since 2022 and what this means for the rest of the championship, the 50-year-old Briton said: "I mean, there's a long way to go, so we've never taken anything for granted in the championship."

"So obviously, this race is won on a Saturday, and that's where we had a poor day yesterday. So to understand, and obviously Friday we struggled as well, so to understand what the issues were with the ride and the kerbs, we've got a huge amount of data now to go away and look at and look to address for the upcoming races," Horner concluded.