Sergio Perez says he felt fortunate to reach the finish of the Spanish Grand Prix after he struck debris from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Verstappen tagged Lance Stroll’s Williams at the post-Virtual Safety Car restart and sustained front-wing endplate damage, with the loose part detaching at the exit of the final corner.
Several drivers avoided the piece of debris but the unsighted Perez was less fortunate, though was able to reach the finish, climbing up to ninth as a result of pitting for fresh tyres during the VSC phase.
“It was a tough race but to score two points in these conditions is not a bad result and a decent reward after a difficult race,” said Perez.
“I made a good start but I had to go wide to avoid the accident with [Romain] Grosjean and I lost a lot of positions.
“It really complicated everything for me because it put me behind a lot of other cars.
“After that we made the right strategy calls, especially pitting under VSC, but then I hit debris from Verstappen’s car and I picked up some damage.
“I was struggling with a lot of vibrations and I was lucky to make it to the end. It’s good to come home with some points after starting so far back.”
Esteban Ocon was left downbeat after suffering a suspected oil pressure problem that led to his retirement for a second successive race.
“We were racing well and looking good for some points,” said Ocon.
“Then things went wrong at my pit stop when there was a problem changing the right rear wheel.
“We lost about 20 seconds and it put us to the back of the pack. A few laps later I lost power and had to park the car.”
