Charles Leclerc was booed by the home crowd crammed into the stadium at the Autodromo Rodriguez Hermanos after colliding with Mexican national hero Sergio Perez.
Leclerc found himself sandwiched between Perez and Max Verstappen as they approached Turn 1 at the Mexico City GP.
Perez, who later said he saw an opportunity to lead his home race, turned across Leclerc, who had nowhere to go without colliding with the other Red Bull on his right-hand side.
The collision ended Perez’s race and damaged Leclerc’s car, although it did not stop him finishing third.
After the race Leclerc had a negative crowd reaction as he went to the customary interviews for the top three drivers.
“A lot of booing…” Leclerc said, as he took the microphone. “Guys… I mean, honestly, I had nowhere to go.
“I was a bit in between the two Red Bulls and unfortunately I touched Checo [Perez], but I had nowhere to go. So, it’s life.
“It damaged my car. And unfortunately, it ended the race of Checo. But yeah, on our end we maximized our race,.
“Of course, I’m disappointed to end the race of Checo like that, but I really didn’t do it on purpose. I had nowhere to go.”
The race stewards agreed with Leclerc’s assessment, with the incident not leading to a penalty for either driver.
Perez did not lay blame at Leclerc’s feet either.
Asked if he could have given the Ferrari more space, he said: “Definitely yes”.
He added: “I felt to be honest I would have let them down more if I didn’t go for it, if I’m honest. I saw thee gap and 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.
“Yeah. Risk, reward… it was pretty high risk to take, but it was worth taking it.”