Sergio Perez not a 'reckless' F1 driver insists Force India

Perez had been charging up the field on fresh tyres in the closing stages, when he collided with Kvyat after diving down the inside at Rascasse in an attempt to take ninth.

The incident forced Kvyat out of the race and Perez dropped down the order to eventually be classified 13th.

Kvyat was furious and the stewards handed Perez a 10-second time penalty, which did not cost him anything as he was last of the finishers.

Although Force India was disappointed its run of points finishes came to an end, it fully backed Perez's attempt to take the place.

"He pushes hard but he's not reckless," explained Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer. "He usually makes the moves stick.

"He overtook [Lance] Stroll, [Jolyon] Palmer, [Stoffel] Vandoorne, and tried on Kvyat.

"He probably overtook more than anyone [in this race], three of the four successfully."

Asked specifically about the Kvyat incident, Szafnauer reckoned that the incident was triggered by the Toro Rosso driver leaving too much room down the inside.

He said: "I thought the FIA recently said, 'Let them race.' Did they not? That's the new edict.

"Well, that, to me, was a racing incident. The door was open and then closed. It ruined Checo's race too, that's punishment enough - I don't know why Toro Rosso would want anything else.

"Yeah, it ruined Kvyat's race, but you don't leave the door that wide open. You take Rascasse like you should, take a tight line like everyone else does, and it doesn't happen.

"Do the fans want to see that kind of stuff? I think so. I'd hope so."