Force India’s Sergio Pérez believes his strong opening lap was crucial in his drive to points at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Pérez lined up from 13th place but moved up the order through the first few corners to emerge in eighth position, via a minor brush with team-mate Esteban Ocon.
Pérez shadowed the duelling Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr., and closed in on the Toro Rosso driver in the final stages, but ultimately crossed the line in eighth place.
“I’m very pleased to come away with eighth place,” said Pérez, who scored points in Hungary for the first time since 2013.
“It hasn’t been an easy weekend in terms of my feeling with the car, so to turn things around in the race and pick up some points is a good recovery.
“I made a very good start, positioned my car well and that was very important for the final result.
“There was a bit of contact with my team-mate, which damaged my front wing, but fortunately it didn’t change the balance of my car.
“It wasn’t the busiest race for me because I spent most of the afternoon behind Sainz Jr. and Alonso, but we couldn’t make our way through during the pit stop window due to a slow stop.”
Ocon was left to rue the first-lap contact with Pérez but was able to jump Stoffel Vandoorne through the pit stop phase to collect ninth place.
“It was a pretty messy start and that compromised my race,” said Ocon.
“Sergio made contact with me in Turn 1, which caused some damage to my floor, but I was able to continue even though I lost some performance.
“In the end, we got another double points finish for the team, which is great considering how difficult the weekend had been leading up to the race.”
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