Man who attacked Ferrari fans in shocking incident at Mexican Grand Prix ‘banned for life’
There were some unsavoury scenes at the Mexican Grand Prix when a man was filmed attacking two Ferrari fans in the stands.
The incident may well have been a result of the dramatic opening lap of the race on Sunday which saw home favourite Sergio Perez's race come to an abrupt end following a collision with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Perez's afternoon in front of his partisan supporters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was over after 14 seconds when he drove into Leclerc at the opening bend.
Leclerc, who came third behind Lewis Hamilton and winner Max Verstappen, received a hostile reception in the immediate aftermath of the race.
"A lot of booing," said Leclerc as he addressed the angry crowd. "Guys I had nowhere to go. I was a bit in between the Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Sergio.
"It's life. I damaged my car and unfortunately it ended the race of Sergio. Of course, I'm disappointed to end the race of Sergio like that but I really didn't do it on purpose and I had nowhere to go."
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The hostility spilled into a section of the crowd with a man filmed throwing punches at two people in red t-shirts.
The man was then apprehended by security and has r.
A record crowd of more than 400,000 spectators passed through the gates this weekend - with 130,000 here on race day - hoping to see Perez triumph or at least finish on the podium.
However, the 33-year-old, who hasn't won a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, and now faces further questions over his future at Red Bull, stood by his banzai move.
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"To be honest, I feel I would have let the fans down more if I didn't go for it," said Perez.
"I saw the gap, I went for it. I decided to take a risk, I knew it was going to be very risky, and I ended up paying the price.
"I've had some really sad moments in my career, but this is up there, and as a race, the saddest one, because of the end result.
"But at the end of the day, this is just racing. I go home very sad, but I also go very proud of my team and of myself. We gave it our all. I knew that today a podium was not enough for me. I really wanted to go further."