Force India’s Sergio Perez has outlined how he managed to claim a second podium in three races at the European Grand Prix to recover from his starting position of seventh.
The Force India driver was given a five-place grid penalty from his qualifying position of second for needing a gearbox change due to damage sustained in the third practice session.
However, he managed to move into a finishing position of third to claim the same finishing position he had in Monaco and his fifth consecutive points finish after starting the season with three pointless races.
Perez said that he knew that he needed to make his way past some of the cars around him on the grid, such as Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Massa.
“We had to make our way through,” Perez said.
“I got a very good start, a very good first lap, some nice overtaking into Turn 2 on [Felipe] Massa and [Daniil] Kvyat.
After the initial pit stops, the Mexican driver consistently ran in the top five in the race, moving up to fourth before closing in on Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and passing him just before the end of the race. This was unnecessary due to a penalty the Finnish driver had claimed earlier in the race, but he was looking to overtake him.
“Then I was fighting with Kimi all the way to the end. I knew he had a five-second penalty, but it was still nice to get him on the last lap.
“Although I knew the podium was secure, when I saw it was safe enough to do it, with no risk at all, I went for it.”
The finish gives Perez another 15 points in the Drivers’ Championship and moves him up to eighth place on 39 points, one point ahead of Williams’ Felipe Massa.
