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Sergio Perez has spoken out about holding firm in front of Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon in Canada, defending the actions he took even though they arguably cost the team a podium spot.
Perez was behind third-placed Daniel Ricciardo for much of the race, while Ocon had resumed in fifth following a pit stop that had been taken after a much longer stint than the Mexican's. His tyres were much fresher, but Perez was a barrier to an attack on Ricciardo - so Ocon told Force India that he "would already be past Ricciardo" given the opportunity. The team took the Frenchman's hint, and suggested to Perez that he should let his team-mate by accordingly.
Perez did not move, however, insisting that Force India should allow the two men to race. This derailed the challenge to Ricciardo, who kept third place, and both pink cars were ultimately passed by Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari - although they were close for the remainder of the Grand Prix, with Perez taking fifth by just 0.240s.
"I pretty much spent the whole race behind Daniel, on his DRS window, the whole race I was really close to him," he later revealed. "All I needed from Daniel was a single mistake, a single lock-up, but he drove a perfect race, he didn't do a single mistake. When the team asked me to let him (Ocon) by we were going to lap some cars, so I asked to give me the chance, because probably we get some traffic and it's all I needed.
"I was always on (Ricciardo's) DRS, in the end I had 40 or so laps to put the manoeuvre on Ricciardo and he didn't do a single mistake. Esteban had 40 or 50 laps behind me on fresher tyres and he was never close enough to make a move, and in the end we finished where we deserved to finish. I knew the Ferrari was coming behind quite quick, and I was struggling for tyre grip, I was thinking about the podium, that it could be mine. The strategy for me wasn't ideal today but I tried my best."
Mason Hawker
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Alonzo
Posts: 66
Perez said "Let us race", what 99% drivers would say, if Ocon could have overtaken Ricciardo, he should have been able to overtake Perez, he tried a couple of times and could not get it done... If the team mate behind him was Hamilton, Alonso or Vettel, may be that's a another matter...... It is... [Read more]