Perez calls for end to team orders at Force India
Sergio Perez says that he and his Force India team mate Esteban Ocon should be let off the leash for the remaining two races of 2017.
The team ended up imposing team orders on the pair after a series of clashes during the first half the season. The pair made contact in Baku, and then clashed again in Belgium.
Since then, Force India has insisted that both drivers have to obey the rules and put the team first. The ultimate aim was to ensure fourth place in the constructors championship.
Ocon finished in eighth place in Mexico, and Perez added another point for tenth at his home race. That mean the team’s objective has now been secured. They are 99 points clear of Williams which is the next-best team in the standings.
As far as Perez is concerned, that means the drivers should be able to get down to unfinished business.
“They have told us that they will let us race once we secure the fourth place,” he told Autosport magazine this week.
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However, fans shouldn’t expect a demolition derby between the team mates as a season-full of frustration spills out. Rather, Perez believes it’s time for he and Ocon to prove they can be trusted.
- Force India may let Perez and Ocon fight after Mexico
“I think it is important for Esteban and myself to show good trust,” he said. “And that we can do good races between us.”
Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer had previously hinted that the pair might be allowed to race in the final two races of the year. However, he insisted the actual decision was yet to be made.
“That we have got to discuss internally,” Szafnauer said. “We’ve got a couple of weeks to decide.
“It’s better for the fans if they are allowed to race,” he admitted. “But at the same time, car parts aren’t cheap!
“You crash into each other and maybe have to buy some more for the last race. [Then we] have a test after in Abu Dhabi,” he pointed out. “All those considerations have to come into play as well.”
Perez is currently ahead of Ocon in the drivers championship. He’s in seventh place, nine points ahead of the Frenchman.
However Ocon has outscored Perez by ten points in the last three races. If he continues that run of form in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, he could be right on his team mate’s heels.
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