Once again this weekend, the battle to be
best of the rest was very interesting, with the honours eventually going to
Sergio Pérez.
The Mexican not only made the most of being
able to start on a better tyre than the four drivers ahead of him on the grid,
thanks to qualifying in P11, but he also proved capable of doing a great job of
managing his tyres, running the same strategy as Hamilton, going from Medium to
Hard on lap 20 of the 71-lap race. Pérez got all the way up to seventh and then
bravely fought off the attacks of the second driver I want to mention, DanielRicciardo.
The Australian also opted for a single
stop, but with a different tyre choice, starting on the Hards before giving his
all for 21 laps on the Medium. The mistake Daniel made as he tried to pass
Perez going into turn 1 at the end of the race should not take away from his
great performance which, along with 10th place for Nico Hulkenberg gave Renault
something to smile about at a difficult time.
“It’s good to be in the points. I could
have got more if I had passed Perez but I just couldn’t make it stick. I sent
it into turn one, maybe a little late and the postman wasn’t there! We made a
really strong start on the Hard tyre and that set us up for the rest of the
race. It’s a solid day with both cars back in the points. It’s been a tough
week for the team, so I’m proud of them and how they’ve kept their spirits high.
We regrouped quickly and we can be pleased with that, but now we have to move
on and keep it up,” said Ricciardo.
It’s important that the French team picks
itself up. Ever since it returned to the sport as a team and not just an engine
supplier, this is the first year it has taken a step backwards. Now it must try
and finish the season as best it can, while also concentrating on next year
when I’m sure it will return to making better progress.
“Every weekend, it feels like the
circumstances vary but the script remains the same: poor qualifying that we
turn around during the race thanks to aggressive strategic choices and solid
execution. Today was another example, with also the benefit of the free tyre
choice at the start. It could have been a bit better with Daniel racing cleanly
against Perez on one side, and Kvyat much dirtier against Nico and helping
Gasly on the other side. That’s racing, but I prefer that we focus on
ourselves. The drivers did a remarkable job to get the best from the
circumstances in qualifying and then make the tyres last in the race. The
garage crew also did a phenomenal job to deal with the problems on Saturday
morning. We must get rid of everything that undermines our potential or offers
easy opportunities on-track or off-track to our fierce competitors,” added Team
Principal Cyril Abiteboul.
