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Perez defends Canadian GP stance

Published on 12 Jun 2017 00:06
7
By: Fergal Walsh

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

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]

1
Jun 12 2017 - 19:14

F1 News Daniel Ricciardo Sebastian Vettel Sergio Perez Esteban Ocon Ferrari Force India

Replies (7)

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804
I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the Force India debrief
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- Jun 12 2017 - 09:40
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
FI reacted too slowly, and it costed them the podium as a result. Had they allowed Perez to race Ricciardo when he was within range, Im pretty sure Ricciardo would not have been on the podium.
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- Jun 12 2017 - 09:50
HEINZ

Posts: 61
Perez is an arrogant idiot! He would never overtake Ricciardo and could not hold Vettel. His only objective was to block Ocon, he is never going to play in favor of the team. Ocon has been matching his results, and Im sure that throughout the rest of the season he will beat Perez eventually. Now the team knows who they are dealing with... And contrary to what he thinks, Perez has not impressed Ferrari or Mercedes with this performance.
- + 0
- Jun 12 2017 - 11:26
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
Perez did what I would expect most highly competitive drivers to do. The failure here is on Force India for not being forthright about what they wanted to happen. The result was sub-optimal. I don't think Ocon getting by Ricciardo was a safe bet at all, but trying was a must. The whole thing put a damber on what should have been a huge celebration for Force India.

By the way, how much longer before a big company invests in Force India? I can only imagine what those guys would accomplish with a larger budget.
- + 0
- Jun 12 2017 - 17:49
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Yeah, I dont really fault him for it. If FI had allowed Perez to race Ricciardo from the get go Im sure he'd have a decent chance at grabbing the podium, but instead they hesitated and decided to stick to their plan.
  + 0
  
  Jun 12 2017 - 21:50
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  And a bigger company has already invested in them: the reason for their pink livery has provided them with quite a big sum of money, and that contract isnt set to disappear anytime soon, apparently.
  + 0
  
  Jun 13 2017 - 14:33
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 very hard for a driver to give up on what he sees as an opportunity at a Podium...
- + 1
- Jun 12 2017 - 19:14