Sergio Pérez said it was disappointing to finish tenth in the United States Grand Prix behind Kevin Magnussen, but ultimately it wasn’t to matter after the Dane was disqualified post-race for excessive fuel usage.
Magnussen was not the only driver to be disqualified ahead of Pérez, with the Mexican’s Racing Point Force India F1 Team team-mate Esteban Ocon also falling foul of the stewards thanks to his own fuel issue, promoting the twenty-eight-year-old to eighth in the final result.
Pérez felt he perhaps extended the first stint at the Circuit of the Americas too long, which gave Magnussen the opportunity to attack him on the back straight as the Haas F1 Team driver exited the pit lane after his own stop.
“I made a good start, managed to stay out of trouble and benefited from the chaos around me,” said Pérez. “We tried to extend the first stint but perhaps we stopped a bit too late.
“Our pit-stop wasn’t the best and I ended up in a lot of traffic, which caused me to lose out to Magnussen. I was able to overtake him in turn one as he was leaving the pits, but he passed me on the back straight”
Whilst he felt he should have been ahead of the Dane, Pérez felt the two Renault Sport Formula One Team drivers, Nico Hülkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr., were always going to be out of reach, so eighth was always going to be the best they could have managed to achieve on Sunday.
“I followed him for the rest of the race and although I got close, I ran out of laps to make a move,” said the Mexican. “I don’t think we would have been able to challenge the Renaults today, but I’m disappointed we lost out to Magnussen.”
