Sergio Perez was frustrated not to score his first points finish of the season in China. Perez qualified an excellent seventh and things got even better for the Mexican in the opening laps.
“The start of the race was really good and things looked very promising. I was up in third place.”
However, when debris from multiple collision and tyre debris from Ricciardo warranted a safety car, Perez’s race was turned on its head.
“When the safety car came out and we had no option but to pit, which dropped me back into the pack. I had to fight hard because the cars around me were on different tyres and there were some quick cars recovering as well. All of this took a lot of the life from my tyres.”
The Mexican did express his enjoyment however of battling with the likes of Bottas and Vettel during his climb back to the front of the field.
“There were some entertaining battles during the race and we put up a good fight, but the points finish slipped away in the final part of the race. I think we chose the right strategy and made good choices, but the race didn’t go our way.”
Checo started on the supersofts he qualified on before moving to the Soft tyres for his next two stints.
An early switch to the medium tyres on lap 29 meant he struggled towards the end of the race and was passed by the Toro Rosso’s demoting him out of the points.
“It’s also clear that we need to keep doing our homework to come back stronger for the next few races.”
Perez will be hoping to score his first points at the next round in Russia, a track which saw him take his fifth career podium in 2015.
