F1 News: Sergio Perez On Hulkenberg-Ocon Sprint Race Crash - “Wrong Place, Wrong Time”

Sergio Perez found himself to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Speaking on the Qatar Sprint race crash with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon that earned him a DNF, Sergio Perez explains that it was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The incident occurred when Hulkenberg tried to pass Ocon on the exit of Turn 1. Just as he was doing that, Perez saw an opportunity to pass them both as the three cars headed toward Turn 2. 

Sadly though, Hulkenberg was sandwiched between the two cars which caused contact with Ocon. The hit sent the Alpine straight into Perez's Red Bull, which had made no contact with either of the cars. 

All three drivers were forced to end the race. Speaking on the unlucky incident, Perez told Motorsport.com:

“It was wrong place, wrong time.

"The race didn't start particularly well because we were on the medium tyre, it was very low grip to start the race on that tyre.

"We were recovering, we were making good progress, but unfortunately as I was making more progress we had this contact and I paid the price, I had massive damage on my car.

"It's been a very frustrating day, but tomorrow it's a new opportunity and we will give our best.”

Trying to defend his position by calling the event a racing incident, Ocon said he was unaware of Perez's presence alongside Hulkenberg:

“We had the soft tyres, so we started very well.

"We made up some good places from P10 to P7, some good fights with Fernando [Alonso] also.

"Unfortunately we were dropping back, and we were more on the defensive side than the attacking side, and obviously we had that incident when we were three abreast.

"I got a touch on the rear right, the next thing I see when I opened the eyes is I'm in the gravel.

"It is clear that I saw Nico, I knew he was there, but it is impossible for me at that point to see Sergio on the right side. Three abreast is not a good idea on that corner unfortunately, so I think it's a racing incident.”

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Hulkenberg reveals that he tried backing off after realizing there was little space but it was too late by then. He also displayed an understanding that Ocon would not have known about Perez's presence and hence, he wouldn't have accounted for the compromised bit of the track. He explained:

“It all happened very quickly, very unfortunate.

"I was attacking Esteban into Turn 1 and then on the outside line, very little grip with the sand, but undercut him and then had a good exit out of Turn 1 and kind of side-by-side a little bit into Turn 2.

"And I was obviously racing him, and mainly seeing him, and then I saw Checo appearing very late.

"And I knew it was going to get very pointy and tight. I tried to bail out, but it was too late. So, yeah, very unfortunate for all three of us.

"I would like to give him [Ocon] the blame!

"But I think in this case, we can't, because I don't think he was able to see Checo. And therefore he probably thought I had space to move more to the right.

"One of those things, but frustrating because I think today with the medium it was looking good for us.

"I think we were we could have scored one or two points. And obviously that's very frustrating for us.”