Perez on "perfect" eighth-place finish in China

Racing Point driver Sergio Perez has described the Chinese Grand Prix as a "perfect race" for him and his team, with the Mexican driver finishing in eighth-place in Shanghai.

Perez qualified outside of the top 10, but a strong start from the experienced driver allowed him to finish inside the points-places. His team-mate Lance Stroll had a strong race as well; climbing up the positions to come home with a P12 finish.

"It was a tremendous lap one," Perez said to RaceFans on his own performance. "I saw a gap, I went for it and I managed to get a lot of places."

Perez spoke to the media on Friday, and was rather downbeat about Racing Point's chances this weekend, but the Mexican driver said that the team's race performance demonstrates what this car can achieve.

"We are very pleased with that (the result)," Perez continued. "It's what we have to do while the car is not at the level we expected to be. We just have to get out there, try to out-perform them, I think it's what we did.

"Today, we've done a pretty good job, very sensible, fantastic lap one and good management of the tyres. I think we just (had) a perfect race."

Perez was less than two seconds behind seventh-place - with Daniel Ricciardo claiming the 'Best of the Rest' status for Renault - but the Racing Point driver claimed he didn't have an opportunity to overtake the Aussie.

"I was close at times, but I think he was just managing the tyre, so every time I got close he had the pace to pull away (from me)," Perez concluded.