Sergio Perez drove another strong race in Singapore to keep up his immaculate scoring record at the circuit, finishing seventh despite late race pressure from both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers.
The Sahara Force India driver felt he made a strong start to put himself into points contention, and then kept up a good rhythm throughout the race, and withstood the pressure of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr over the closing laps despite being on much older tyres.
“It’s a good feeling to end such a demanding race with seventh place and six points,” said Perez. “The start was very important because I knew I had to get ahead of Fernando [Alonso] and I also jumped ahead of Romain [Grosjean].
“After that I managed to keep up a good rhythm and I had new tyres immediately after the first safety car so I concentrated on looking after them and building a gap to the cars behind.
“The second safety car didn’t help us because it gave the Toro Rossos a big advantage with their fresh tyres. We knew they were catching us quickly and it was tough to stay ahead because my tyres were getting old and it wasn’t easy to keep the car away from the walls.
“So the last 15 laps of the race were very demanding but fortunately we could hold on for seventh.”
