Ocon and Perez now know how to 'behave' - Szafnauer

Sahara Force India F1 Team‘s chief operating officer, Otmar Szafnauer, has insisted that Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez have 'matured' and now know how to 'behave' on the track following last year's campaign which was marred by regular clashes between the team-mate duo.

Force India enjoyed a hugely successful campaign last year and finished fourth in the championship rankings despite having the smallest budget on the grid. However, the season was littered by disagreements between Ocon and Perez, with the duo even colliding on the track not once but twice in Baku and Spa.

The relationship broke down so regularly that Force India restricted them racing each other for the remainder of the year.

Szafnauer has insisted that the pair have put last season's trouble behind them and have matured as a partnership, however.

“The drivers have got a better understanding and have matured enough so that they know and we know how to behave, so next season it should be a lot better," the Force India boss told Autosport.

“It’s funny because you get criticised if you do and criticised if you don’t. Some of the media were critical as they said ‘you should’ve got on top of it earlier’.

“We were letting them race and when we did get on top of it they were saying ‘oh they can’t race anymore’.

“Looking back did we strike the balance at the right place? Probably as we’ve got fourth [in the constructors’ championship]. At the time I thought we could lose out because the drivers were often coming together and we were losing out on points.”

At Spa, Ocon and Perez collided on the track which forced the latter to retire from the race. Szafnauer thinks this was the breaking point when they had to be separated for Grand Prix outings.

“In Baku, we lost something like 33 points and at that point, it was so early in the season that I didn’t know or could predict we would be fourth," he continued.

"Now if you look back you could say we struck the balance at the right point as we let them race and then after Spa we said ‘let’s not’.”