Win was possible for Force India before contact, says Perez

Force India's Sergio Perez as left disappointed after his race in Baku, as he retired from his first race of the season. The Mexican was running in a strong fourth position before he and his teammate Esteban Ocon collided at a safety car restart.

Ocon attempted to overtake Perez up the inside of turn 2 but on the exit, the two made contact with both cars suffering damage. Perez came off worse, and despite repairing his car during the red flag period, the stewards deemed that it was done illegally, handing him a penalty.

"It’s a shame to retire from a race like this because I think we would have been in a position to win the race," claimed Perez. "The team did a great job all weekend and deserved much more than to have a race ruined in these circumstances. I couldn’t do anything to avoid the accident and it’s particularly bad for our team because it ruined the races of both of us on a day in which other teams have scored big points."

Force India set for intense talks - again

This will be the second race in a row that Force India have had to deal with controversy within the team. Last time out in Canada, Perez refused to move aside to let Ocon through to attack Ricciardo for third. However, this will have had much more of an effect on the team, as not hitting your teammate is the number one rule.

"We will need to discuss the situation within the team and make sure something like this does not happen again. As drivers, we are just part of a much bigger team and we have a responsibility to do our best to bring home a good result, especially considering what would have been possible today. Before the incident, it had been a great race and a strong weekend.

"My start was very good and I was fighting for second place on merit, but we were really unlucky at the Safety Car restart. Even after the crash, the team did a great job to get the car back together and allow me to resume the race. Even then, the seat broke and the team retired the car on safety grounds. It shows how unlucky this weekend turned out to be."

Fergal Walsh