Perez on Ocon battle

Sergio Perez has claimed that he is a better driver than Esteban Ocon, despite being out-qualified by him for most of the season.

Ocon out qualified Perez 16 times in 2018 but it was the Mexican who finished 12 points ahead in the Drivers Championship in eighth.

The average time between the pair was 0.448s in favour of Ocon and Perez admitted he had the beating of him in qualifying.

“I think in qualifying he probably had the upper hand although the gap between us in qualifying is less than a tenth.

“He was more often in front in quali than myself, but I think the gap in the race is much bigger than qualifying.

“In the race I thought I did the bigger difference, always on the pace, the pace was a bit stronger in the race.” Added the Mexican.

“We were very close again but I think he was just a little bit better in qualifying and I was quite a bit better in the race.”

Perez will team up with Lance Stroll at Force India after Lawrence Stroll bought the constructors with a consortium before rebranding as Racing Point.

Meanwhile, Ocon will drop down to being Mercedes reserve driver after Robert Kubica and George Russell formed Williams’s lineup, leaving him without a drive for 2019.