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Force India to review rules of engagement after Canada spat
Force India has admitted that it may need to change its rules of engagement between drivers in the future, following a teams order controversy at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jun 12, 2017, 3:40 PM
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The team's drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were chasing third-placed Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the race when there were radio discussions to talk about the idea of the pair swapping places.
The idea was that the fifth-placed runner Ocon, who felt he was quicker and had fresher tyres, would have a better chance of overhauling Ricciardo if Perez moved aside from fourth to let him through.
But with the team not going as far as ordering Perez to slow, and the Mexican convinced that he could get past Ricciardo himself, the pair found themselves eventually overtaken by Sebastian Vettel as they dropped to fifth and sixth.
Deputy team principal Bob Fernley is well aware that there had been the chance of a podium shot, but felt it would have been wrong to interfere in the situation too much.
However, he did concede that lessons would be learned and that Force India may need to go away and revise how it behaves should similar circumstances arise in the future.
"There are positives and negatives with with happened," he told Motorsport.com. "And what it has done is highlight an issue we have – which is quite a compliment – that we have two incredibly quick drivers.
"So we maybe have to review our positions on how we do things in the future. It is a nice problem to have, and we should not let it take away from us what was still a fantastic result for the team."
When asked if he was not frustrated that the team had lost its best chance so far this season of a podium finish, Fernley said: "I am not really frustrated. I think we have just got to look at it.
"If we have to change the policy of how we work, that is a separate decision. But coming into the race, we have always allowed the drivers to race. We should not have recriminations on that at the end of the day.
"From a fan point of view, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot complain when people make switches [between drivers] and say they want them to race, and when they race say you want it the other way around. So, our policy has been let them race and that is what we did."
Team principal Vijay Mallya also tweeted that he would not go as far as imposing team orders, but suggested that the rules of engagement at the outfit would change.
"Well done guys Force India. Proud of you," he said. "Our policy of no team orders continues but I will specify guidelines to achieve best team result."
Ocon complaint
Fernley also said that the team would go through video of the closing stages battle between its two drivers where Ocon felt Perez had been too tough with his defence.
"We will get the video and play it back to both of them and see what it is like," said Fernley.
"What we have are two drivers who are absolutely at the top of their game, and it is something we are now going to have to look at, about how we control that, to keep us on our toes."
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