In Shanghai last Sunday, Sergio Pérez collided with Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap at the 2026 F1 Chinese GP. As a result, the incident compromised both of their races. In the end he crossed the line in P15.
Afterwards, the Mexican admitted it was a mistake and took full responsibility, adding that he could have handled the situation better.
The Chinese round was recently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, where Kimi Antonelli took his first Grand Prix win, becoming the second-youngest race winner in Formula One history. His teammate finished in second place, while Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, secured his first podium with Ferrari.
However, the race also featured drama, as both McLaren cars recorded DNSs, along with Alonso, Stroll and Verstappen not seeing the chequered flag.
Pérez admits that misjudgment caused the teammate incident
Sergio Pérez admitted that the contact with his Cadillac F1 teammate Valtteri Bottas was his fault. He explained that he saw a gap and went for it at turn 3, but it was a misjudgment that saw him sent into a spin.
“Yeah, I mean, that was all on me. I saw the gap, I went for it. But obviously looking at it, Valtteri didn’t have nowhere to go. Unfortunately, it ended up costing me [a lot in] the race because I spun, I lost a lot of time.”
Pérez reflects on technical issues and race recovery at the 2026 Chinese GP
After the incident with his teammate, Sergio Pérez managed to recover but faced several technical issues. He explained that he lost engine and battery power, which cost him a lot of race time, and potentially even 14th place against his old stablemate Esteban Ocon.
He pushed at full pace to the finish and noted that the team still needs to improve to maintain track position and better prepare for future races.
“Luckily I managed to come back to the field and then on the second stint, I was about to overtake Valtteri with the overtaking mode on and I lost the engine. I lost the battery, so I lost like 5 seconds.
“And then later on I lost another 15 or 20 seconds. So in general, I think the positive thing is that we finished with full gas. The negative is that I think we have a lot of things to do in a lot of areas to make sure that we don’t lose track position and we arrive to the races a lot more prepared.”
The Cadillac driver takes responsibility and shows respect to teammate Bottas
He later apologised for his misjudgment, saying it was the worst feeling for both himself and the team. However, Sergio Pérez was thankful that nothing major had happened.
Additionally, he emphasised the importance of apologising and recognising when you have made a mistake.
“I mean, that’s the worst feeling you can have, you know, for myself, for the team. Luckily nothing really happened and the incident, I think, was just a misjudgment from my side. And yeah, luckily that’s happened.
“Well, I think it’s how it should be. When there is no bad intentions between teammates and when you look at the incident. And straight away I think it’s important just to apologise and realise that you messed up and that’s how it is.
“Sometimes you make mistakes and unfortunately it was with Valtteri. But I’m happy he finished the race.”
