Racing Point F1 Team moved up to sixth place in the Constructor’s Championship after Sergio Pérez finished tenths despite starting from the back.
The Mexican, who was penalised on Friday after failing to stop at the weighbridge during Free Practice 2 felt he had driven a “tremendous” race to rescue a point at the United States Grand Prix.
“We had a tremendous race today and we managed to recover well as a team.
“We used a very aggressive one-stop strategy and had good pace all afternoon.”
There was controversy on the final lap as the Scuderia Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat tried to steal the final point but following a collision between the two, the Russian received a penalty and Pérez was promoted back up to tenth.
“On the final lap, Kvyat crashed into me and damaged my front wing, but he was penalised and we took back the tenth place.
“One point means we move up to sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship, which is important with two races to go.
“It’s only a point today, but every point will count at the end of the season.”
While Pérez stormed through the field, his team-mate Lance Stroll had an afternoon to forget as he finished 13th.
The Canadian was involved a slight collision at the opening turn and picked up damage which meant he was not able to fight for points.
“It was a long afternoon and for sure I’ve had better days.
“It’s a shame because the car felt good and we know we can fight for points, but unfortunately things didn’t go our way.
“I didn’t get the best start as I was squeezed and we picked up damage through Turn 1.”
The team switched Stroll on to a two stop strategy but the experiment failed and he ultimately fell down the order.
“The track was very bumpy on the outside of Turn 2 and I hit a bump, had a big snap of oversteer and fell down the field.
“Given our track position, the team tried to roll the dice and switched me to a two-stop strategy: we were showing good pace in the second stint, but we ran out of tyres towards the end of the race.
“It’s a shame, but sometimes you have days like these and we just have to come back fighting in Brazil.”
