---
title: "Perez and Ocon determined to ‘move forward’ after skirmish"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/09/01/perez-ocon-determined-move-forward-skirmish/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Kyran Gibbons"
section: "F1 News"
published: "2017-09-01T06:41:54Z"
modified: "2017-09-01T06:41:54Z"
---

# Perez and Ocon determined to ‘move forward’ after skirmish

Force India’s Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon have stated that they are determined to ‘move forward’ from their Belgian Grand Prix skirmish.

This weekend’s Italian Grand Prix is the first race since Perez and Ocon collided at Spa-Francorchamps, costing their team a double-points finish.

Ocon recovered from front wing damage to finish ninth, while Perez was eventually forced into retirement as a result of the damage sustained in the incident.

It was the latest in a long list of skirmishes between the team-mates. In Azerbaijan, a similar collision between the drivers meant that the events in Belgium were not without precedent.

Having been informed that team orders will now dictate their intra-team battle and issued with the threat of suspension, both Perez and Ocon have stated their aim to leave their issues in the past.

“We’ve been racing very closely lately,” Perez said during the drivers’ press conference. “As you say, we’ve had a couple of incidents in the last races.

“I think, I had a really good conversation with him \[Ocon\], personally, between him and me, and I think it’s time to move forwards.”

Ocon added; “We’ve been racing really closely, as Sergio was saying, we’re always fighting for the last tenths in qualifying, or in the race so, for sure, it’s really close between us.

“I think we both crossed the line, that’s for sure. We touched so of course, something was wrong in there.

“Now we can’t change what happened before. We have to move forwards.”

Force India enters the Italian Grand Prix weekend fourth in the constructors’ standings with 103 points. Despite the drama in Belgium, the team remains 58 points clear of fifth placed Williams.