Perez pleased with "great recovery" to 7th from P19 on the grid

Sergio Perez is understandably happy with his terrific recovery drive which saw him score a great P7 for Racing Point at the Italian Grand Prix as he continued his return to form.

Perez failed to score in eight races before the summer break, but has returned with P6 and 7 in Belgium and Italy to get his season back on track and recover positions in the drivers' standings, with the Mexican now sitting 13th, but only a handful of points behind Daniel Ricciardo in P8.

He came under pressure from Max Verstappen late in the race but impressively kept the Dutchman at bay, and said in Racing Point post-race press release: "Another good result and we scored some important points today. It was a great recovery from what has been a difficult weekend in the lead up to the race, especially with the problems in qualifying.

"I think everything worked out for us in the end thanks to a strong strategy from the team and some good timing with the Virtual Safety Car. It was a tough race, especially the last 15 to 20 laps with Verstappen so close and putting me under pressure.

"We just had to push as much as we could. We've taken some good steps forward with the car recently and I'm optimistic going forward with more parts coming for Singapore. Hopefully, that will put us back into contention to keep scoring regular points from now until the end of the year."