Perez: Unseen Albon clash over F1 Hungarian GP point unnecessary
Sergio Perez says his clash with Alexander Albon over the final point in Formula 1's 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix was "just unnecessary"
The two came together at the Hungaroring's first corner in the closing stages of the race, which was won by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
Although the clash was not shown on the live broadcast, onboards from both cars show the pair colliding at Turn 1 as Albon came through.
The Toro Rosso driver got a better exit off the final corner and, although Racing Point's Perez moved to the inside to defend the position in the braking zone, Albon had enough room to squeeze up the inside to claim 10th, despite the pair banging wheels at the apex.
Albon went on to take his second top-10 finish in two races, but Perez later complained that Albon "crashed into me".
When asked about his thoughts on his race, Perez said: "It was a very good start, very good first lap, managed to get some good positioning.
"In the first stage we were just managing and then [went] for a very aggressive strategy we managed to undercut [Romain] Grosjean and [Nico] Hulkenberg.
"Then towards the end, Albon came very fast and crashed into me, damaged my suspension and the last three or four laps were very challenging and [I] finished P11.
"Great race, we gave it everything, hopefully, the second half of the season will be promising for us.
"[But] the contact was very clear, there was some damage into my car.
"The [FIA] should let us race, but the contact is unnecessary from my point of view. I don't think they have to do anything about it, but the contact was just unnecessary."
Albon outlined his thoughts that Perez had closed the door, but reckoned the contact was "nothing serious".
"We had the run on him, and he left a space on the inside, so I went for it, and then he closed the space, but to be honest he still left me enough space," Albon told Sky F1.
"I thought the move was done, and then he turned in on the apex when I was next to him.
"We had a bit of a clatter, but nothing serious.
"It's that thing where you come out of the corner and you're like 'I hope my steering's straight' - and it was, so it was OK."
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