ABU DHABI — Sergio Perez has denied he crashed on objective throughout qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix and stated the accident didn’t characteristic in talks to clear the air together with his teammate Max Verstappen following final weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hypothesis over whether or not Perez crashed deliberately in Monaco resurfaced final weekend after Dutch media reported it was the rationale Verstappen refused a crew order to surrender a place to Perez in Brazil.
Forward of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Verstappen accused the media of not reporting the “actual story”, however refused to verify the precise motive he ignored the crew order.
Some studies said that Perez later admitted to Pink Bull that he crashed on objective in Monaco to make sure he began forward of Verstappen on the grid on the tight road circuit, however he denied that was the case on Thursday.
“That is hypothesis from the media on the market and creating rumours,” Perez stated. “As I stated, we’re all conscious of what’s going on throughout the crew and we need to maintain all the things throughout the crew. That hearsay is mistaken.”
Requested to present his model of occasions from the Monaco lap and deal with hypothesis that he jumped on the throttle early to spin his automotive, Perez added: “I used to be chasing the lap time in Monaco. You possibly can assessment the entire lap and you may already see that I almost crashed already in Flip 1. I am simply giving it all the things.
“It is the final run of Q3, and yeah folks simply make errors. That is actually it once you’re chasing the lap time.
“However you’ll be able to already see that from Flip 1 that I used to be taking part in with the throttle as a result of it was the place I used to be dropping the lap time and you may see already into Flip 1 that I almost misplaced it already.”
Perez additionally denied Monaco was a part of the discussions between the drivers and the crew following the ignored crew order in Brazil.
“No, we mentioned what occurred in Brazil and we went by all of the situations, all of the errors we did as a crew as a substitute of not making ready the race sufficient and so forth.”
Perez stated he and Verstappen had not mentioned Monaco at any level, however wouldn’t reveal his teammate’s causes for ignoring the crew order in Brazil.
“As I stated, whether or not it is Monaco or it is different issues, that is right down to him to let you know,” he stated. “I do not know the way lengthy it has been there [in his head].”
Perez, who’s contracted to stay at Pink Bull till the top of 2024, stated he’s joyful to maneuver on from Brazil.
“It was clearly a nasty feeling, however I believe I’m able to put all of this behind us as a result of my precedence is to have a great setting to work in and to have the ability to belief my teammate and belief my crew. That is my precedence.”