Baku (Azerbaijan), Sep 15 : Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz suffered heartbreak after a close race for the final podium position in the penultimate lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as both drivers ended up crashing into the barrier. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes the incident cost Perez a deserved spot on the podium which would have been his first since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.

'He deserved more than that. I just watched the replay, and Carlos drifted across the circuit. He (Checo) deserved a podium. It destroyed his race and a lot of damage. It has cost us a lot of points in the Constructors,' said Horner to Sky Sports F1.

Perez started the race at fourth spot and was in a solid position after his pit stop. The Red Bull man was on track to move ahead of Oscar Piastri, who had pitted on the 15th lap, but was held up by Piastri's teammate, Lando Norris which allowed the Australian to move ahead and hunt down Leclerc and grab the victory.

'Unfortunately, he lost quite a bit of time on his out-laps after Alex Albon. Then Lando cost him dearly which gave Oscar the track position. Without that, he would have won the race today," he added.

Oscar Piastri's win was McLaren's first win at the Baku City Circuit and took them past Red Bull in the race for the Constructors Championship. The British car manufacturer now sits 20 points ahead of Red Bull, with 476 points, and hopes to end their reign which has seen them win the trophy for the past two seasons.

Horner went on to say that there is still a lot of racing to do in the season and Red Bull will be hoping to reclaim their top spot.

'There is still a lot of racing to do. It was a magnificent race at the front, for so many laps. We're disappointing it came to close like that when it didn't need to,' concluded Horner.

/IANS