F1 News: Sergio Perez Crashes Out Of Mexican Grand Prix At First Corner

Sergio Perez is out of his home race at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez is out of the Mexican Grand Prix after crashing into Charles Leclerc at the first corner of his home race. 

The Mexican driver, who is defending second position in the drivers' championship from Lewis Hamilton, is out of the race after colliding with the Ferrari driver at the first corner on the race start. Although he managed to rejoin the group, Red Bull swiftly called Perez into the pits to assess the damage and deemed it appropriate to retire the car. 

On replays, you could see the extensive damage to the sidepod of the RB19 as it flew into the air and slammed down presumably causing damage to the floor as well. 

At this stage, it looks as though the Red Bull team are continuing to work on the car to see if they can send Perez back out into the race, despite him retiring on the first lap. 

Leclerc has been able to continue with the race, however, a virtual safety car was put on the session to remove debris which fell off his SF-23.