Perez: ‘More respect’ between him and Button now

2013 Spanish Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez says he and Jenson Button will not fight each other as hard as they did in Bahrain in future.

Speaking in the press conference for the Spanish Grand Prix Perez said he and Button had apologised to the team for putting their finish at risk.

“We talk, Jenson and myself, firstly to apologise to the team because we were quite aggressive,” said Perez. “We were close to have an accident.”

“The chat was mainly to clear the air, to say everything what we thought between us, and to clear the relationship because at the moment especially we need to be together to come out of the position where we are.”

“We are not quick enough at the moment and we have to keep working very closely, Jenson and myself, and I think the chat we had, with Sam [Michael] and Martin [Whitmarsh], it helped to keep the relationship strong and to keep the team together, to et out of the difficult moment. It was mainly for that.”

Perez added the pair will not risk as much when fighting each other from now on to preserve their tyres as well as limiting the risk of a collision.

“I think we were far too aggressive to each other,” he said. “We lost time and I think that has to be a little bit difference with between us: don’t waste too much tyre, especially at this stage of the season where there tyre is so critical.”

“We are wasting too much tyre if we fight that hard so I think we have to be a bit more flexible in the fighting.”

“We are very thankful that we are in a team like McLaren that they let you fight team mates. So in that respect we have to respect each other a bit more,” he added.

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    26 comments on “Perez: ‘More respect’ between him and Button now”

    1. “We lost time and I think that has to be a little bit difference with between us: don’t waste too much tyre, especially at this stage of the season where there tyre is so critical.”

      “We are wasting too much tyre if we fight that hard so I think we have to be a bit more flexible in the fighting.”

      Does it mean McLaren will finally use team orders to let faster driver through so he won’t lose time behind teammate or on contrary, to stop them fighting and hold positions?

      1. Traverse (@)
        9th May 2013, 16:01

        That’s a good point. if Perez had backed off and held position he would’ve been a sitting duck for the chasing cars. if Jenson had just let his faster teammate past sooner they both would’ve had a better chance of finishing further up the grid.

        1. jimscreechy (@)
          9th May 2013, 16:39

          +1

        2. +1, Definitely agree. I was thinking the same thing during the GP

    2. Only Button huh??

    3. Such a great duel and everybody starts apologising…I was actually hoping to see more of that.

      1. Traverse (@)
        9th May 2013, 16:09

        I was actually hoping to see more of that.

        If the propose penalty points system is introduced you’ll see even less dueling, especially between teammates.

        1. None of the proposed penalty points would affect duelling race cars unless one put the other into a wall.

    4. Perez realised he pushed the Button too hard.

      1. haha…

    5. Dear drivers, could you please stop apologizing for following your instincts? Because this is getting ridiculous.

      1. I agree. However, the public eye seems not to. Take Vettel v Webber. Vettel immediately came under scrutiny for – basically – following his instincts – at least here among the Hungarian F1 broadcasters and coverage staff.

    6. Personally I think they missed a trick, they could’ve helped each other go quicker by utilising the DRS on alternating laps (on the basis that Perez wasn’t actually any quicker than Button, just looked that way because of DRS). Would’ve helped to preserve their tyres too.

      1. I kind of hoped that would of ended up being the outcome in the race too. When you’ve got someone chasing you / your chasing someone else it certainly helps with lap times, I know for certain it does with me. But I guess that’s where the tyres step in and over-ride a very large opportunity for this to happen, but I guess utilising this tactic over not utilising it would of had a negative effect.

      2. Not really, because the current tyres get ruined if stuck in the sort of air that you need to run in to be allowed to use DRS.

      3. Alonso and Massa have done this on a number of occassions.

    7. OK guys. Now try to imagine this: 2000 Belgian GP. After the race Mika Hakkinen walks to the Ferrari pits and apologises to Schumacher for overtaking him in a dangerous way.

      What I want to say is that this is called racing. And how are you supposed to race if you are going to apologise for doing it.
      Unless someone orders you to do it.

      1. I was under the impression Schumacher was the one doing the dangerous driving in that particular instance.

    8. Random question related to the driver’s press conference: what was it Vettel said before he said “so I’m Sebastian of Red Bull Racing” cause I think they kind of blurred it out on the replay on Sky! Whatever it was, they found it quite hilarious anyway (after the football question)!

    9. I don’t really get the picture of this.

      Obviously, they were both told they were a fraction away from nullifying the weekend for the team, and has been asked of two things: first, to be honest with each other, because ultimately, they have to co-operate in order to get back to the front of the pecking order, which is a perfectly legitimate point. But second, they were surely asked not to be so aggressive towards each other on the track – without pinpointing clear guidelines. What? When asked what he would do differently, Perez said he would be more cautious… Yeah, I bet…

      The point is that every duel is basically a chicken game, where you just cannot say take evasive action earlier, without specifying when, because the nature of competition will instinctively drive them to the very edge, where it will be either close, as it was last time out, or they do wreck as Vettel and Webber did in Turkey in 2010.

    10. We lost time and I think that has to be a little bit difference with between us: don’t waste too much tyre, especially at this stage of the season where there tyre is so critical.”

      If any proof is needed that this current incarnation of Pirelli tyres are killing real hard racing in F1, here it is.

      When 2 drivers decide they will not race each other hard in the future because they “don’t want to waste too much tyre”, AND they “will not risk as much when fighting each other from now on to preserve their tyres”, AND they also apologise to the team because they were “quite aggressive” – though both were quite robust in their efforts, neither crossed the line, nor displayed any unusual aggression for an F1 driver, AND also, they will be “wasting too much tyre if we fight that hard”

      At a period when F1 global attendance is declining, viewership is declining and sponsorship is declining, the single main thing that F1 is about, is what we will see less and less of – Real Hard Racing.
      It is really really sad.

    11. Hmmm, I hope this doesn´t mean Perez got his nuts cut off. I must say that it seems that JB threw his weight (if any) around.

    12. What this means, is that Button has solidified his control on the team and indirectly ( ie. through means other than telling him directly) forced Perez to rethink his actions for the future. I don’t see Button making any statements, other than ” calm him down”..

      1. @maksutov – Or it means that Button has told Perez that he understands Perez’s actions in Bahrain to be a message that Button should expect no quarter from Perez in the future, and that Button should give none in return. Now that they have an understanding that each will race the other, they will both let the other through if the other proves to be faster.

        1. Yes, i understand the “black and white”; but something tells me there is a bit more to the story. Either way, what happens remains to be seen.

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