Sergio Pérez appeared relieved to carry his Force India home in seventh place, having endured a difficult lead-in to Sunday’s race with a variety of worries during free practice.
Pérez was forced to sit aside for Free Practice 1 to allow Alfonso Celis Jr track time, where repairs to an energy store issue spilled over into FP2 and limited the Mexican’s running. Having only gone 17th quickest in FP2, the Mexican was worried about his chances in qualifying and the race, so was satisfied with how the weekend played out.
“Finishing seventh is a great result for the team and a nice reward considering how difficult this weekend has been for us,” he said. “We struggled in practice, but come qualifying and the race we were quite strong and we came home with some good points.”
Pérez initially dropped backwards at the start, but immediately recovered and finished ahead of his team-mate Esteban Ocon, though was unable to make serious inroads on the Haas of Romain Grosjean as the race wore on.
“It wasn’t the easiest of races for me. I made a good start, but I lost places to both Esteban and Lewis [Hamilton] at turn one. Thankfully I was able to pass them both at turn three and regain my starting position.
“I suffered from a lot of front graining in my first stint, but after the pit stop I was able to settle down into a rhythm, even though it wasn’t enough to attack Grosjean. We had very similar pace to him so we couldn’t get any closer.
Summarising the weekend, Pérez seemed glad he had simply made it to the end in one piece with more points on the board, and was quickly focused on the challenge ahead, a track which is expected to suit the Force India.
“It has been a difficult weekend, but we recovered well and we can be happy with the outcome. Now our focus shifts to Silverstone. I really can’t wait to try these 2017 cars on the fastest track on the calendar.”
