Sergio Perez believes he could have finished on the podium in the Austrian Grand Prix had he not been relegated on the grid because of a penalty.
Perez qualified 11th but started 15th following his five-place penalty for causing a collision with Felipe Massa in Canada. He gained one place because Romain Grosjean started from the pit lane.
Perez finished in sixth place having led the race at one stage. “Today we got a very positive result for the team, especially considering where we started the afternoon,” he said.
“When you start in 16th it is always going to be difficult to make up ground, but I had a very strong start and made up a good few positions. It was especially important to pass Jenson [Button] because he was on a similar strategy to mine – it was a key moment for my race.”
Perez praised his team’s strategy of using the soft tyres for the first two stints before switching to the super-softs. “We showed once more that we can manage the tyres well, and we had a very strong race pace, as we have had all year,” he said.
“It was nice to be in the lead for a while, although we obviously knew that the cars behind us were on a different strategy.
“The only regret is that without the grid penalty I would have been further up the grid, which would have made a big difference because we had the pace to fight for a podium today. It’s nice to be back in the points after two disappointing races: the car is improving and we are in good shape.”
2014 Austrian Grand Prix
- Bottas wins Driver of the Weekend after first podium
- F1’s return to Austria produced a middling race
- 2014 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2014 Austrian GP Predictions Championship results
- Top ten pictures from the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix
Image © Force India
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
22nd June 2014, 16:55
Podium? He would’ve definetely won this race!
Hemz Shaw (@hemzshaw)
22nd June 2014, 17:33
Was that Sarcasm?
Osvaldas31 (@osvaldas31)
22nd June 2014, 17:43
Yeah, I thought it was quite obvious.
Rooney (@rojov123)
22nd June 2014, 18:25
Considering he was only about 15 seconds off from 3rd place at the finish, he is right to say that he could have fought for the podium without the grid penalty.
HiPn0tIc (@hipn0tic)
22nd June 2014, 16:56
I recon he could actually get a shot, but the pace and strategies would be differet…
Lotus-Grosjean
22nd June 2014, 16:58
I guess that Force India have led more laps than Ferrari do this year?
Imre (@f1mre)
22nd June 2014, 17:19
You are right. http://statsf1.com/en/2014/stats.aspx?t=T
Hemz Shaw (@hemzshaw)
22nd June 2014, 17:33
They did!! I didnt think of this stat till I saw your comment.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
22nd June 2014, 19:10
It’s sad that the current rules make it pretty much impossible for any car that made it into Q3 to use the harder tyre for their first stint. Perez is ‘lucky” that he doesn’t make it into Q3 and then can choose this strategy.
Although he also has the car to pull this off. The Ferrari and Williams are a bit harder on their tyres.
Still what is the point of having two compounds if the top 10 drivers have no option but to all use the same strategy?
Piero (@collective)
23rd June 2014, 16:28
No rule against doing Q3 on the harder tyre, if it suit the driver’s fancy.
HS (@hsvdt15)
24th June 2014, 12:22
But you start on the tyres you set your best lap on in Q2
Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
22nd June 2014, 19:29
The more I see of Sergio this year the more I don’t understand why Mclaren dropped him for Magnussen. Nothing against Kevin but given his season so far I would have put him in a lower team and had two more experienced drivers in the Mclaren seats.
This also reflects well on Kamui. Kamui was faster than Perez just like the Hulk but Sergio has the edge in the race because of his tyre management.
Nickpkr251
22nd June 2014, 22:09
It’s quite simple really Mclaren promise title sponsor vanish so they just took next HAM !
oh wait they didn’t well they basically switching with Williams !
Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
23rd June 2014, 1:33
True, I guess Magnussen gets to start his career in an average car like most drivers at least. They should sign Kamui next year though.
pastaman (@)
23rd June 2014, 1:38
It had nothing to do with talent.