Perez unwilling to risk Verstappen collision in Miami

Sergio Perez has dismissed claims that he defended too lightly from Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen while the two were duelling for the lead of the Miami Grand Prix.

The two ran opposing tyre strategies in Miami, with Perez starting the race on Medium tyres and Verstappen beginning his charge from ninth on the grid on Hard compound rubber.

Verstappen pitted 25 laps later than Perez and emerged from his stop just behind the Mexican, and with much newer tyres, the Dutchman quickly caught and breezed past Perez one lap later to take a lead he would keep to the flag.

Speaking after the race, Perez rejected the notion that he could have put up a more robust defence of his lead, adding that doing so could have risked the teammates colliding with each other and handing victory to third-placed Fernando Alonso.

"At the end of the day, we have to put the team ahead of us," Perez told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"We are just two drivers, but there's so many people working back home and working really hard we have to show respect.

"In the end, we had a really good fight between us, and I think a bit more would have meant contact and I don't think that would have been fair for any of us. Only for Fernando!"