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Sergio Perez believes that both McLarens that finished behind him at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday were "a lot faster" than Racing Point.
Perez managed to secure a sixth-place finish after qualifying fifth, driving a one-stop strategy after starting on the soft compound.
Despite coming under pressure from the Woking squad, Perez was able to hold on the 'best of the rest' spot, claiming his third consecutive top ten finish.
"It was looking good after lap one," said Perez. "I was ahead of Verstappen, I overtook him at the start, but then very early we realised that it was not our race.
"I was more concerned about the McLarens because they were very strong all the way through, and they pushed me massively.
"I was on the limit the whole race apart from the last laps, so it was a very demanding race.
"No mistakes, no lock-ups, and it was the only way to keep the McLarens behind because they were a lot faster than us."
Perez's teammate Lance Stroll fought his way into the points after dropping out in Q1 during Saturday's qualifying session.
His father Lawrence, who owns the Racing Point outfit, says he is delighted with the result as he is confident the team extracted everything it could.
"I couldn't be happier," Stroll said. "I think we finished where we deserved to finish, on merit.
"We know that there are six cars that are in a different league. So we couldn't have asked for more."
Racing Point makes up three positions in the constructors' standings as it now occupies fifth place, trailing McLaren by a single point.
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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Replies (4)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
McLaren has looked really impressive so far.
RogerF1
Posts: 501
An especially comforting result over their engine supplier and should really count as the benchmark to where Renault should be finishing - at the very least - compared to last years engine customer who was always going to outshine them.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Absolutely, and right now, McLaren lead the constructor's race over said engine supplier. McLaren might think Renault shouldn't be their benchmark, but I absolutely think it is, and so far, they compare pretty well. Renault seem to be stronger, but I think McLaren looks a bit more consistent.
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
So far Sainz and Stroll both look to have benefited well from the pre-season seat shifts.