Following an internal investigation by the FIA, the governing body has said that allegations of collusion between Mercedes and Force India at Monaco are without merit.
Esteban Ocon offered no resistance to Lewis Hamilton when the Mercedes driver overtook the Force India early on in the Monaco Grand Prix, leading to rumors the Frenchman had been ordered by the Silver Arrows pitwall to yield the position.
Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure later claimed that Toto Wolff himself, when asked if Ocon had obeyed a Mercedes order, had responded with an emphatic "Yes, because that's the way it is!".
The story angered a few teams who then contacted the FIA citing a case of possible collusion between Mercedes and its customer outfit, but the governing body has dismissed the accusations.
"The reason for that, I don’t care what Toto says, was we were running our own race, not against Lewis at the time,” said Force India COO, Otmar Szafnauer.
“And we didn’t want to lose any time whatsoever.
"And it was Alonso who pitted just before and tried to undercut us, and what we didn’t want to do was lose any time at all with Lewis such that Alonso would have a chance to get us, which is why we told Esteban not to lose any time to Lewis.
"Because if you’re racing in your mirrors, you don’t go as fast. Even if it’s a couple of tenths a lap, it’s too much. And when you’re really close with some guy trying to undercut you, you can’t do it.
"What you can do is hold him back for five, six, seven laps, he gets you anyway, but now you’ve lost out to Lewis, and you’ve lost out to the guy you’re really racing. You’re not racing him on track because he’s pitted already, and you haven’t."
Force India tech boss Andy Green insisted the anecdote simply reflected the team's usual principal of not fighting a clearly faster car.
"We do it all the time," said Green. "When a fast car is coming through, we recognise that we’re not racing with them, and we don’t. We lose the minimum amount of time.
"Sometimes you can lose two seconds a lap when you’re trying to defend."
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