Perez feels Sainz deserved penalty for Canada clash

Sergio Perez feels Carlos Sainz should have been penalised by Formula 1’s stewards for the pair’s collision in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Force India driver attempted to overtake Sainz’s Renault at the Safety Car restart but the duo made contact at Turn 1, sending Perez across the grass as he dropped a number of positions and finished Sunday’s race a lowly 14th.

F1's Montreal stewards reviewed the incident but concluded that no driver was to blame for the coming together, much to the frustration of Perez.

"I am very disappointed to come away from this race with no points," Perez said. "The start was good, although I didn’t make up any places, but the restart after the Safety Car was even better and I managed to pass Carlos [Sainz].

"I was very surprised when he hit me because I gave him more than enough room and I was ahead: that wasn’t good enough and that’s why I asked for a penalty on the radio. I was able to save the car [from crashing] but by then my race was compromised."

Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer believes Sainz was to blame for ultimately ruining the Mexican’s race.

"Sergio was racing very well until Sainz hit him, forcing him off the road, and dropped him outside the points," Szafnauer explained.

"He had made the overtake so it was extremely disappointing to lose four or five places as a result. It effectively ended his afternoon."

Sainz, who beat the second Force India of Esteban Ocon to eighth place, insists he did not adjust his normal driving line or move under braking and believes Perez simply turned into the corner too early.

"I just told him to just look at the images because I'm pretty sure when he looks at them [he'll see] I don't move under braking or anything strange on my driving line or anything like that," he argued.

"He attempted a very optimistic move around the outside. He turned in very early to the corner and we collided."

F1 race director Charlie Whiting backed the stewards' decision.

"For me, it was just a very small touch," Whiting said. "Checo [Perez] was coming down the outside, he just turned in, and they just touched.

"For me, you couldn't blame one driver completely for that."