Racing Point Force India's Sergio Perez was pleased to have helped his team maintain its seventh place in the Formula 1 Constructors' Championship at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.
Perez had started the race down in 14th place after a tough qualifying session, however, the Mexican driver utilised the inherent speed of the VJM11 chassis to cut through the field.
It was a nervous race for the team as Sauber looked set to jump ahead after the Swiss team had performed better than them over the weekend.
When Marcus Ericsson retired on lap 24, Force India found themselves in a strong position to stay ahead in the standings, though a late retirement for Esteban Ocon didn't help their cause.
Sauber's Charles Leclerc managed to finish in seventh place, just one place ahead of Perez, but it was not enough to help the Hinwil-based outfit surpass Force India.
"Considering everything that has happened this weekend, I am pleased to finish inside the points," said Perez.
"I’ve not been happy with the car and I’ve not had the pace we expected. We just never solved the balance issue and I think there could be some damage somewhere in the car.
"The start of the race was very important and after a strong first lap, I was up inside the top 10. After that, the strategy worked as planned and my main competition was Leclerc.
"I was very close to him in the final few laps, but I just didn’t have the pace to overtake him.
"I am pleased we could protect the seventh place in the teams' championship and it was important to end the season with some points."
Force India maintained seventh place in the Constructors' Championship by just four points over Sauber.
