Perez: Hamilton was in 'recovery' mode in Belgium Sprint clash

Sergio Perez feels Lewis Hamilton was in "a hurry to recover" following their collision in the Belgian Sprint race that earned a penalty.

On Lap 7 of what was an 11-lap race, the Red Bull and Mercedes were battling for fourth place through Stavelot, with the front-left of the Mercedes clipping the right-hand sidepod of Perez, who was ultimately forced to retire.

Hamilton was slapped with a five-second time penalty over the collision, dropping him from fourth at the flag to seventh, just ahead of teammate George Russell.

Perez's theory

"It was massive damage from contact from Lewis," Perez told media including RacingNews365.

"He just [hit] the whole right-hand side of the car and it damaged the floor - and that was game over.

"He ran out of grip and just went into the side of me. It was unfortunate.

"[The race] was looking great, we were about to get [Pierre] Gasly [for third] before the Safety Car came out.

"He was in a bit of a hurry, everyone was in a bit of a hurry to recover as it was a very short race, you have to take those risks, but it was not nice to get my race ruined by him."