Sergio Pérez felt his Racing Point Force India F1 Team delivered a “great strategy” as he finished seventh at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Mexican started ninth at the Suzuka International Racing Course but made places up throughout the race and felt that he got the best he could have this weekend.
“Today we had a good result: the best I could realistically hope to achieve,” said the Mexican. “After yesterday’s poor qualifying we made up a lot of positions and I feel we really got the maximum from the race.
“Our pace was strong and the team delivered a great strategy.”
Pérez was in a battle with the Haas F1 Team of Romain Grosjean during the race and despite trying to undercut the Frenchman, Pérez did the job on track after the virtual safety car period had ended.
“We knew we had to be aggressive to beat the Haas and we nearly managed to undercut Grosjean at the pit-stop, but I lost a bit of time battling with Leclerc and I just fell short,” said Pérez.
“At the VSC restart I managed to get really close to Grosjean and when I saw an opportunity I went for it.”
Another points finish moved Pérez up to seventh in the drivers championship while Force India have closed the gap to McLaren F1 Team to only fifteen points and the Mexican described the race in Japan as “fantastic.”
“I am so excited about our performance today,” he said. “We had to push hard and make some good overtakes: it was a fantastic race.”
