Christian Horner has claimed Lewis Hamilton and George Russell “don’t like our cars” as a war of words develops between the two teams. The Red Bull boss blamed Russell for hitting Perez at turn four at the start of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Horner also took a swipe at Hamilton for a carbon-copy accident at the same corner involving the seven-time champion and former Red Bull driver Alex Albon back in 2020. He said: “I don’t think Mercedes like our cars going around the outside at turn four.
“It was a shame because Checo, you could see he was ahead there. It’s almost a mirror image with Alex from a couple of years ago. There was so much damage there was no chance for him to score any points, so better to save the mileage.
“It’s a tricky corner. We’ve seen so many incidents on the outside. It’s just a shame he wasn’t given more space, but it’s one of those things. We’ll bounce back in France.” Russell and Perez made contact on the opening lap of the race after the former Williams driver lost ground after failing to pass Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
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Perez went for a move around the outside of turn four but was spun around after Russell’s front left tyre hit the rear right of the Red Bull. However, Mercedes have fired back at Horner as they protested their innocence after Russell’s collision.
Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin blamed Perez for not leaving enough room for Russell to make the move. Mercedes also criticised the FIA’s decision to award Russell a five-second penalty as a “harsh” call.
Shovlin commented: “It’s been a very tough weekend in the garage but very satisfying to come away with third and fourth positions. We felt that George’s penalty for the incident with Sergio was harsh. He was up on the apex kerb and left more than enough room.
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“We had to change the front wing after the contact, so it made for a very long stop. He had to pass through the field twice but raced superbly and maximised the opportunity.” The two drivers also had differing opinions on the accident which forced Perez to retire.
Russell said there was ”nothing he could do” to avoid the collision as Perez turned in on him mid-corner. However, the Mexican warned it was up to the Mercedes driver to “control his car which he clearly couldn’t”.
