Sergio Perez has defended his aggressive start during the Austria Grand Prix Sprint, after he nearly collided with teammate Max Verstappen. After getting a better launch at the start in the tricky wet conditions, Perez took the lead exiting Turn 1 with Verstappen close behind. On the run through to Turn 2 the Mexican appeared to force Verstappen off track, who had to take the grass before they hit Turn 3. Perez took a wider line on the entry to the corner which enabled Verstappen to get alongside before he was forced off at Turn 3. Perez believes he was "angry" after being forced wide through Turn 2, which led to the aggressive move from Verstappen. "I think Max was angry that I went into Turn 2 but I didn't see him there, I just had a very bad Turn 1 and I tried to protect," he said after the session. "Once I realised that he was there I opened up the door and gave the place back into Turn 2." The pair appeared to be in discussion in Parc Ferme post-Sprint about the start sequence, with Perez claiming it was difficult to spot Verstappen in the spray from the rain. He explained: "But it's all fine, we just spoke about it because of the visibility. Although we were one and two, it was very bad."
Perez: Had to manage tyre to fend off slick gamblers
Perez was stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg during the opening stages of the Sprint, after the Haas driver took advantage of the off-track moment. Even though he could stay ahead for a few laps, Perez managed to get back past. By this stage Verstappen was over 10 seconds ahead while others - including Hulkenberg - made the gamble to switch to slick tyres on the drying track. The Mexican conceded that it was all about managing the tyres to those who gambled on slicks further down the order. He added: "We had a bit of a fight with Max and ended up losing a position to Nico [Hulkenberg] which he was very strong in the first few laps so it was quite hard to get by him. "Once I got Nico it was all about managing the tyre to make sure that we made it till the end, because otherwise it would have been really easy to miss out and especially with people boxing for slicks."
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