“When I will be behind him, I will think three times where I need to go
because I don’t know what he’s going to do. I hope he learns. Otherwise he
will pay more penalties in the future.
Perez responded: “We believe we have enough evidence to prove that I did
nothing wrong. He has his opinion, I have my opinion. We just have to sit
down.”
The crash of the final lap in Montreal cost both the chance to score very good
points.
Massa also suggested that Perez should be given a one-race ban as Romain
Grosjean was in 2012 after a series of dangerous accidents.
Meanwhile, Red
Bull were left with red faces on Thursday as their display of
corporate nationalism began in shambles with fans and team members stuck in
miles of gridlocked traffic. More traffic chaos is predicted for the rest of
the weekend.
Organisers were caught out by a public holiday, a lack of police and thousands
of fans who are camping and therefore arrived earlier than expected, with
free entry on Thursday at the glistening Red Bull Ring. There is just one
road in and out of the circuit.
Senior management at McLaren
who travelled to Austria on Thursday morning were also delayed. Three
kilometres away from the circuit Eric Boullier, the team’s racing director,
decided to abandon the drive and walk the rest of the way. Boullier walked
more than two miles, along with sporting director Sam Michael. It is hoped
more police and dedicated routes will ease congestion on Friday.
Elsewhere, plans to drastically reduce Friday practice and compress grand prix
events into three days rather than four were rejected by Formula One’s
commission. Sources also suggested that any chance of meaningful cost
reductions for 2015 were over. “It was black smoke, not white smoke from the
meeting,” one said.
Discussions over F1’s enormous budgets have become wrapped up with an ongoing
debate about the quality of the spectacle. Two-time world champion Fernando
Alonso backed the criticism made by Ferrari’s president Luca di Montezemolo
in a letter to the sport’s owners.
“I think the president is right in a way, that the show we put on this year is
not good enough in some of the races,” the Ferrari driver said.