Sergio Perez believes his run to eighth place in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix was one of the best performances of his Formula 1 career.
Perez qualified 10th on Saturday at Marina Bay, only to receive an eight-place grid penalty following two yellow flag infringements during Q2.
The Mexican driver has a reputation for managing his tires carefully, and put that nous to good use on Sunday by making an aggressive strategy work on his way up to P8 at the checkered flag.
“Today was one of my best performances in F1,” Perez told NBCSN after the race.
“We managed to secure the points, and we needed those points. We got ahead of Williams again. Very difficult race. But we managed to secure it. Very good job.
“Looking back, we did a big mistake to stop [then] and we lost a position to Esteban [Gutierrez]. I was stuck behind him for a long time. That prevented more progress.”
Perez was left to fight alone for Force India after teammate Nico Hulkenberg crashed out before the first corner following a tangle with Carlos Sainz Jr.
“Yeah pretty s****y to be honest. Frustrating to only go 100 meters,” Hulkenberg told NBCSN.
“My start was too good to be true. Best of the season. Went between the gap of Toro Rossos. Obviously he had to avoid Max [Verstappen], I got hit on the rear left. It sent me into the wall. Not great.”
Despite only having one car in the race, Force India still managed to retake fourth place in the constructors’ championship as Williams failed to score any points in Singapore.
With six races remaining, Force India lies one point ahead in the teams’ standings, 112 points playing 111.
