Sergio Perez has expressed his frustration following a collision with his Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon during Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Tensions were already high at the team following Perez’s decision to not let Ocon through during the race in Canada despite been on much older tyres.
In Baku, the pair collided after the safety car restart at Turn 2, effectively ending the Mexican’s race and dropping Ocon out of the points.
Although Ocon fought back into sixth place after the red flag, rival team Williams scooped up their first podium of the season courtesy of Lance Stroll.
Perez recognises this lost chance for major points, blaming his “over-aggressive” team-mate.
“Between us, we ruined a great opportunity for the team,” said Perez, who retired on lap 39.
“I feel that I couldn’t have done anything to avoid the accident. I was next to the wall, and there was no room for me to go.
“It’s a big shame, the way everything turned out, it was just over-aggressive. In all my career I’ve had teammates who have been hard but given enough room.
“What happened today is totally unacceptable for the team.
“I think the way he raced today wasn’t right. I think he did didn’t have any logic.”
Ocon refused to take all of the blame for the clash, stating that it was just another unfortunate race incident.
“I’m happy with the performance and disappointed with the potential we had,” said Ocon.
“Obviously it’s never nice to have an incident like that in the race between me and Checo. I lost a lot of places but still managed to get some points for the team.
“He touched me after Turn 1, and then I was on the inside for Turn 2, and we touched again. Unfortunately, it’s racing and it happens sometimes.
“For sure we will discuss it and it should not happen in the future.”
