Perez regrets tangles with Norris and Mazepin: 'Could have made P6'

Amid the still raging title battle between Red Bull and Mercedes, Sergio Perez knew it was essential to maximise points at Zandvoort last weekend. Although he came from the back of the grid to finish in eighth place, the driver believes he could have finished in sixth, but was unable to avoid two clashes on track.

"Our race was really complicated a lot," Perez stated to the microphone of Motorsport.com. The Mexican was reliant on catching up at Zandvoort and eventually made it to eighth place.

Hope for P6 dashed

"With Nikita in the beginning, I flat-spotted my tyres," continued the driver. This forced Perez to make an expensive pit stop in the early stages of the race. "He moved really late on the braking, and just to avoid him I flat-spotted my tyres, I had to come in and basically start our race again, and I think that cost us probably P6."

Previously Perez held another colleague responsible for missing out on the P6 finish, Lando Norris. "I think P6 would have been possible," the driver stated, had he and Norris not touched in the final stages of the race.