Shop
The pair came together while battling for third on the penultimate lap of the race.
Sainz had found a way by the Red Bull Racing after he’d been wrong-footed while attacking Charles Leclerc for second.
It left them running side-by-side out of Turn 2 before contact speared them into the wall.
The crash eliminated both on the spot and effectively marked the end of the race as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.
Investigated by officials post-race, it was determined that no further action was warranted.
“Sainz and Perez made contact and crashed shortly after Turn 2 on lap 50. This is a situation where a small touch had significant consequences,” the stewards’ summary stated.
“The Stewards reviewed how the incident occurred, not the consequence.
“Sainz passed Perez after turn 1 and was completely ahead at the apex of turn 2.
“With a compromised exit by Sainz, Perez pulled to the inside of Sainz. Sainz reported that he was aware of Perez to his inside.
“Perez, being slightly behind, was in a better position to see the relative location of the cars.
“But as the two cars approached the wall on the right at the exit of Turn 2, they were about 1m apart.
“From this point and throughout the incident, neither driver steered erratically, and indeed both kept their steering very neutral.
“The Stewards checked the driving line of the drivers on pervious laps. Sainz was on or close to his normal racing line, which forms a slight angle away from the right hand wall.
“From the exit to the point of contact he move approximately one car width further away from the wall.
“Perez moved approximately half a car width further away from the same wall, being more parallel to the right hand wall.
“It was thus apparent that while ahead, and having the right to drive his line, Sainz did move slightly towards a car that he had limited vision of.
“At the same time, there was nothing unusual about Perez’ line, but he could have done more to avoid the car that he had better view of.
“In conclusion, the Stewards deem this to be a racing incident with neither driver being predominantly at fault, and take no further action.”
The crash saw George Russell promoted to third with Lando Norris fourth and Max Verstappen fifth.
Given Oscar Piastri won the race for McLaren, it made for a 38-point haul for the Papaya squad.
With only Verstappen seeing the chequered flag, Red Bull Racing scored just 10.
McLaren now leads the constructors’ championship by 20 points, the first time in a decade that it has headed that competition.
