Esteban Ocon says both he and Sergio Perez have to earn the trust of Force India again after their clash at the Belgian Grand Prix forced the team to ban them from fighting for position in future.
The pair came to blows again in last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, with Ocon claiming his teammate had put both drivers' lives at risk -- something Perez denied passionately with a video posted to social media. Since the race at Spa, the pair have settled their differences and are prepared to move on from their latest incident.
Force India Chief Operating Officer Otmar Szafnauer confirmed the team's drivers will no longer be allowed to race freely and Ocon believes the onus is on the drivers to change the team's stance again.
"I think we need to get the bosses' trust back, and maybe after some races, they will let us race again,'' Ocon said in Thursday's FIA Press conference in Italy.
Force India sits a comfortable fourth in the constructors' championship, 96 points behind Red Bull in third and 53 points ahead of Williams in fifth. Despite this comfortable position in the standings, Perez believes both drivers owe to the team to bring the points home and ensure it ends the season in the right manner.
"What we cannot afford is to lose more points,'' Perez said. "Things change really quickly in Formula 1. The other teams are closing up in terms of pace, so we definitely need to score, especially in strong races such as Spa, Monza.
"They're probably the two strongest races for us. We definitely need to make sure we score as many points as we possibly can. That's for the good of the team. Everyone works so hard at the track, at the factory, that we really need to take the maximum out of both cars every single weekend. It's not just about finishing fourth, it's about how we do it. That's why we definitely need to make sure we do it properly."