bigbadbrother
06-10-2014, 04:59 PM
Adam Cooper
Sergio Perez and Force India have responded to criticism from Felipe Massa and Williams after the controversial last lap collision between the pair.
Perez was given a five-place grid penalty for Austria, essentially because he appeared to move left just before the incident.
Rob Smedley of Williams complained that Perez had continued racing in a car that had brake problems after hearing references on the team radio. However, the conversation related to a temporary glitch that was solved by a reset, and at the end of the race Perez had no problems other than the fact he was on much older tires than those around him.
“It was very disappointing to lose such a strong result through no fault of our own,” said Perez. “I was following the same line and braking patterns as in the previous laps and I just got hit from behind by Massa. There was plenty of space on the left of my car to attempt a clean overtake and I cannot understand why he had to scrape by.
“I watched several replays of the incident and I can’t help but notice how Felipe turns right just before he hits me. I can only think he must have changed his mind and wanted to rejoin the racing line, his misjudgement cost us a big amount of points.
“Also, I’m not happy about comments saying we should have retired the car. It was perfectly driveable with just some adjustments and we showed it up until the moment in which we were taken out. Other cars out there had been in similar conditions for way longer than us and they finished the race without problems.
“If someone thinks you can keep two Red Bulls behind for as long as we did with so-called ‘terminal’ problems, they are clearly misguided.”
Sergio Perez and Force India have responded to criticism from Felipe Massa and Williams after the controversial last lap collision between the pair.
Perez was given a five-place grid penalty for Austria, essentially because he appeared to move left just before the incident.
Rob Smedley of Williams complained that Perez had continued racing in a car that had brake problems after hearing references on the team radio. However, the conversation related to a temporary glitch that was solved by a reset, and at the end of the race Perez had no problems other than the fact he was on much older tires than those around him.
“It was very disappointing to lose such a strong result through no fault of our own,” said Perez. “I was following the same line and braking patterns as in the previous laps and I just got hit from behind by Massa. There was plenty of space on the left of my car to attempt a clean overtake and I cannot understand why he had to scrape by.
“I watched several replays of the incident and I can’t help but notice how Felipe turns right just before he hits me. I can only think he must have changed his mind and wanted to rejoin the racing line, his misjudgement cost us a big amount of points.
“Also, I’m not happy about comments saying we should have retired the car. It was perfectly driveable with just some adjustments and we showed it up until the moment in which we were taken out. Other cars out there had been in similar conditions for way longer than us and they finished the race without problems.
“If someone thinks you can keep two Red Bulls behind for as long as we did with so-called ‘terminal’ problems, they are clearly misguided.”