Mexican superstar Sergio Perez was hoping to finish off a great season with Force India in style.
The former McLaren driver surprised us on Saturday, qualifying fourth on the grid. The team-mate of Nico Hulkenberg was only slower than the Mercedes pair and Finn Kimi Raikkonen. Even more surprising, Perez was less than a second slower than pole-sitter Nico Rosberg.
Perez made a good start along with Rosberg, the front running cars avoided a minor accident involving Pastor Maldonado and Fernando Alonso.
The pace of the Mercedes-powered Force India car was enough for Perez to defend on the long straights, preventing the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and Williams behind him.
Perez fought hard but couldn’t keep 2007 World Champion Raikkonen behind him. Force India were strong in the pit-stops, arguably where they gained time on the teams around them.
Vettel made use of his supersoft tyres and eventually fought off the defence of Perez, who tried hard to prevent the German from passing him.
“We pushed hard to try and beat Vettel today, but he had too much pace on the supersoft and it wasn’t possible to hold him back.”
The team that made its debut in 2008 have had their strongest ever season, which was sealed with Perez finishing fifth in this season’s finale. The twilight race treated Perez with the remainder of fireworks set off for race winner Rosberg.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo started to pressurise the young Mexican towards the end of the race, but he failed to get past the Force India.
“Ricciardo was able to get close to me at the end of the race. Fortunately, I had enough left to hold him off. I think we got the maximum that was available to us and we can be proud of our performance.”
The Mexican driver said that overall it was a strong weekend. “It feels great to end the season with a strong performance and I’m very satisfied with how everything has gone this weekend – both in qualifying and the race.”
Perez said that this season has been his best, as well as his team’s.
“Looking back, on the whole, season it’s been my best year in Formula One and the most successful year for the team. There is a lot of potential for next season and we will be aiming even higher.”
Perez is contracted to Force India for the 2016 season, as they hope to become a larger threat.
