F1 News: Analysing Sergio Perez Crash At Monaco Grand Prix - Was It Purposeful?

We analyse the track telemetry from the Monaco Grand Prix.

This morning, the F1 world has woken up to rumours of Sergio Perez's crash at the Monaco Grand Prix being purposeful after Max Verstappen failed to let him pass at the Brazilian Grand Prix. We've analysed the data we can get our hands on, and it certainly looks that way. 

@f1briefings

did #sergioPerez crash on purpose during the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying? I take a quick look...#f1 #formula1 #redbull

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The Monaco crash brought qualifying to an early end, and with Perez on the top of the timesheet, this put him in pole position for the race. 

As I'm sure you know, those who start in pole at Monaco have a very good chance of winning due to how hard it is to overtake on this narrow track. As you'll remember, Perez did take the win with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finishing in P2 and Max Verstappen taking P3. 

So far it's yet to be confirmed that Perez crashed purposefully, but looking at the telemetry data from the race, there's an obvious spike in throttle that hints at it being a strategic move.

As you can see from the graphs above, there are two distinct throttle spikes (in white) that lead to the crash. These spikes occur before the increase in throttle from 5 laps before, inferring that Perez purposefully tried to rotate the car ahead of the usual accelerating zone. 

This can also be heard in the video of the incident - two quick stabs of the throttle just ahead of the apex creating a controlled crash bringing qualifying to an end. 

The graph above shows us a closer look at those throttle stabs, very obviously showing a close-to-full throttle stab ahead of the usual accelerating zone. 

In a post-race interview with the Mexican driver, he was asked about what Verstappen was alluding to when he gave his reasons for not allowing him to pass:

"No idea,' he said. “Maybe you should ask him about it.

“Nothing to say really. After all I’ve done for him, it's a bit disappointing to be honest. I’m really surprised.”

We'll be exploring this further in the coming days, so stick around for the latest updates.