Sergio Perez insists he and Force India teammate Esteban Ocon have lear♛nt from their past clashes in Formula 1 heading into the 2018 season.

Perez and Ocon endured a tense relationship having become teammates in 2017 and were placed under strict team orders not to fight each other for position on track after colliding w🃏ith each other twice during the Belgian Grand Prix.

Tꦦhe duo had come to blows earlier in the season in Baku, costing the team a strong result, while Force India also missed a♒ clear podium opportunity in Canada after Perez refused to concede position, leading to a post-race row.

Earlier this year, chief o🃏perating officer Otmar Szafnauer said Perez and Ocon will be free to race once more in 2018, after moving past the “conflict stage” of their partnership.

"We had a couple of incidents🐈 last year. I think we learned, we came out on top of that with the team,” Perez explained in the build up to this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

“Towards the end of the year there was a good atmosp🍒here, we were working well together. I think that's ♕the priority for us.”

Perez believes a strong harmony within the team will be key to optimising race re🎃sults and ultimat💦ely Force India’s positioning in F1’s pecking order.

“We're🧔 going to be really competitive and very close pretty much the whole season, but the most important thing is that w✅e push the team forwards, especially now the competition is really high.

“I think we're working well and w💫e have to keep the same working relationship that we had towards the end of the year.”