Force India will be introducing team orders from now on as their drivers looked to draw a line under their clashes and subsequent responses at the Belgian Grand Prix, issuing statements on Twitter on Monday.
The two men have been involved in several notable moments this season, including their first on-track collision during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and at Spa the latest flashpoint came as the Mexican squeezed Ocon into the pit wall on the run to Eau Rouge, both on Lap 1 and again later, causing a Safety Car, as the 20-year-old looked to move past.
Though the Frenchman would recover and finish ninth, he was furious with his teammate when speaking to the media after the race.
“Risking our lives for nothing. He risked my life in there, at 300km/h down to Eau Rouge,” he told Channel 4. “He’s supposed to be a professional driver, today he didn’t show it. He has not done that with any other teammates, I don’t know why he’s doing it with me.
“I’m going to go and speak to him man to man and tell him the truth. He’s going to have a child. I don’t know if he wants to die or something. It’s just ridiculous.”
He would post a similar message on social media, suggesting Perez “tried to kill me two times” to which Sergio posted two video messages on Twitter in response.
“I’m just very disappointed to see his comments regarding that I want to kill him or whatever,” he said. “I’m not that type of guy and I’m not going to make any stupid comments, I just want to tell you the truth and move on.
“We are all professional and I could have said many things in the past but that’s not the type of guy that I am. I want to move on and I will give the best driving ever in the next eight races for my team. They will deserve that and they will see the best from me in my career. I look forward to that.”
The 27-year-old would accept responsibility for the first lap contact claiming he didn’t see his him on the inside, which Ocon also admitted was possibly the case, however, he stood by his conviction that he did nothing wrong the second time, which the stewards agreed with as they took no further action.
“I just kept my line,” he claimed. “There was no room for two cars, there was just a wall and then my car and we were always going to make to contact. There was no need to do that because he could have waited after Eau Rouge and make the manoeuvre easily.”
Since then, Ocon has also looked to draw a line with a message of his own: “In the heat of the moment and given the dangerous situation, I was very much upset,” it read.
“But we will be moving forward, we are a team and I appreciate my teammate apologising. We want to work better together, I’m committed to the success of Sahara Force India and I’m confident as a team we will put this behind us to reach even greater levels of success together.
“We have a big challenge ahead with keeping fourth place [in the Constructors’ Championship] and nothing will distract us from that goal.”
It does seem, however, that after trying to allow their drivers to race freely throughout the season, the events at Spa will signal a change in how Force India allow their drivers to compete.
“As much as I support competitive racing, the repeated incidents between both our cars are now becoming very concerning,” team owner Vijay Mallya said.
“Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to implement a policy of team orders in the interest of safety and to protect the team’s position in the Constructors’ Championship.”
COO Otmar Szafnauer would go further suggesting a race ban would be on the cards if anything happening again.
“This is what you get when you have two very competitive drivers who are fairly equal in performance in a decent car. It has happened to others in the past and it is happening to us now,” he commented.