Perez responds to 'toxic' Sainz helmet social media storm

Sergio Perez has dismissed the social media frenzy around his conduct following his penultimate-lap crash with Carlos Sainz at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

After the two drivers came together in the race-ending incident, a video circulated on social media of the Mexican appearing to hit the Ferrari driver on the head.

However, Perez has since explained he was merely making the Spaniard aware he was communicating with him, and that the video makes it look "worse" than it was.

"I was chatting to Carlos as he was looking down," The Red Bull driver told media including RacingNews365. 

"I was telling him I was talking to him, I didn't push him. It looks worse on the video than it is.

The 34-year-old added: "Carlos is one of my best mates in the drivers' group, so the last person that I would have liked to come together with is Carlos.

"We've turned the page and hopefully both of us can have a tremendous race [in Singapore]."

Social media can be 'very toxic'

The stewards ultimately declared the crash a racing incident, with no driver deemed predominantly or wholly to blame for the shunt.

Whilst vying for position with Charles Leclerc, the pair found themselves side-by-side on the run down between turns 2 and 3 in Baku.

As Sainz, who was ahead, drifted over to the racing line, the two cars collided, sending both into the wall.

To Perez, it denied him and the Ferrari driver podium finishes, particularly given how much Sainz's team-mate was starting to struggle with his tyres.

However, the six-time grand prix winner feels it is now "irrelevant" who was to blame and admitted that once the pair spoke, they realised they had "both screwed it up", something they were "super, super sad" over.

Given the backlash from the incident and the aftermath online, Perez explained that it best for drivers to "stay away" from the "very toxic" environment that is social media.

"I have to say that the social media sometimes can be very toxic in that regard," he said.

"So it's, it's best to stay away, because most of the time people don't know exactly the truth, and the truth is that we both were extremely disappointed.

"[It's] nothing like I hit his head, or some of the comments that I've seen. I have nothing to say about it. 

"Carlos knows exactly and actually we walked together after back to the paddock, and we were just both super disappointed with ourselves after such a race, what we both did, we finished our weekend like that."