It was a unique moment during the first free practice at the circuit of Imola. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon hit each other out of sight of the cameras and came to a halt within a hundred metres of each other. The stewards ruled that it was an unfortunate coincidence, but Helmut Marko has an opinion about it.
The incident happened in Turn 5. Ocon was on a slow lap and tried to pull away to let the fast approaching Red Bull of Perez pass. However, there was radio interference at the time, which meant that communication with the team was briefly lost. The result was a touché.
"The problem was that the pit radio was not working in its entirety. And that seems to have irritated most of the drivers. I don't know what they have rear-view mirrors for," Marko shrugged at Austria's ORF. The Red Bull Racing advisor believes drivers also have a responsibility to know who is behind and in front of them.
However, according to Marko, it is not Ocon, but Perez who was at fault. "This was clearly Perez's fault, who passed Ocon and then this incident happened. The damage is repairable, but of course, he lost time. But it was a difficult situation in general," said the man from Graz.