Perez happy with third place: 'Important to stay close'.

Sergio Perez played an important role in the French Grand Prix. The Mexican was fairly in the background in the opening stages, but eventually managed to take over third place from Valtteri Bottas on a different strategy in the closing stages, a number of laps earlier than Max Verstappen took the lead from Lewis Hamilton.

"Yes, the strategy paid off. It was important to stay near the leaders. The first ten laps the car was really undriveable. We ran with little downforce today, so it was difficult to keep up. As the wind got calmer and the track got better, I found the rhythm again. We managed to drive the first stint for quite a long time and I think that paid off," Perez explained after the race.

Points for the team

"All the way towards the end, the wear and tear was a lot higher than expected today. I think all in all we did a good race, we had a good strategy with the team. I'm happy we won the race and got a lot of points for the team," said the race winner in Azerbaijan.