London: Force India driver Esteban Ocon has offered an olive branch of sorts to Formula One teammate Sergio Perez after publicly accusing the Mexican of twice trying to kill him in Belgium at the weekend.

The 20-year-old said on Twitter on Monday that he had been “very much upset” when he made his comments in the heat of the moment after the two collided during Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

“We will be moving forward, we are a team and I appreciate my teammate apologising,” said the Frenchman, who is eighth and a place behind Perez in the driver standings.

“We want to work better together. I’m committed to the success of Sahara Force India, and I’m confident that as a team we will put this behind us to reach even greater levels of success together.”

The emollient tone contrasted with Ocon’s comments on Sunday, when he posted a clip of the incident and told his 64,000 followers that “Perez tried to kill me 2 times!”

Perez had replied in a video message on the same medium, accepting blame for the first incident between the two but not the second, which he said was due to Ocon being “too optimistic”.

Perez, 28, said: “The second incident, I think Esteban was really optimistic there because there was no room for two cars. He had the whole straight to do the manoeuvre so it’s a shame that we touched. We ruined our race.” Perez retired but was classified 17th.

“I am very disappointed to see his comments that I wanted to kill him,” said the Mexican in a remarkably deadpan response. “I am not that type of guy...”

The incident, with Ocon squeezed towards the wall at more than 200kph as he tried to pass Perez on the inside, cost Force India precious points with the Mexican suffering a puncture and eventually retiring. Ocon finished ninth.

Principal and co-owner Vijay Mallya has said the fourth-placed team would “implement a policy of team orders” to prevent more such incidents.

Sunday’s clashes were the latest in a build-up of bad blood, with the drivers warned in June about their conduct after they collided at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with podium places up for grabs.

While Formula One teammates are rarely the best of buddies, and sometimes polar opposites, they usually strive to avoid clashing on the track.

Perez has had few ructions with previous teammates but Ocon is proving a different challenge. The Mercedes-backed 20-year-old is not short on confidence or talent and, despite being a new kid on the block, is eager to make his mark.

Perez, now 27, yearns to join a top team again after a failed one-year stint at McLaren and knows his career is reaching a crossroads. He, too, is not about to make life easy for his teammate.

On Sunday, Mallya said in a statement: “I have been very happy with our overall performance during the 2017 season with both drivers scoring points for the team and racing freely.

“However, as much as I support competitive racing, the repeated incidents between both our cars are now becoming very concerning.

“Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to implement a policy of team orders in the interest of safety and to protect the team’s position in the constructors’ championship.”

Chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer said the rules of engagement would be changed and the drivers told to hold position in future.

“I’m disappointed they couldn’t sort it out and the team has to now play big brother. I’m disappointed. But the team comes first and that’s what we have to do,” he told reporters.

Sunday’s collision, on the 30th of the 44 race laps, brought out the safety car due to the debris strewn across the track and left the two Force India drivers, who have an increasingly frosty relationship, even more at odds with each other.

Ocon had earlier been squeezed towards the same wall on the approach down to the famed Eau Rouge uphill sweep and was not amused. The first clash, he said, had been both dangerous and unprofessional but he could understand it. The second one was altogether a step too far.

“He just squeezed me into the wall at 300kph risking my life, risking his life, for no reason and costing a lot of points for the team,” he told television reporters on Sunday. “He’s supposed to be a professional driver and he didn’t show it today.

“I will tell him the truth. I will not be scared of him, I will go and talk to him. If it needs to be mean words, it will be,” added the 20-year-old Mercedes protege. (REUTERS)