Sergio Pérez labelled seventh position a "nice reward" for Force India as he converted his eighth-place grid spot into six points at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Pérez dropped behind Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Esteban Ocon at the start but moved back ahead of both into Turn 3, holding sixth, following Max Verstappen’s early demise.
Pérez was ultimately overhauled by Hamilton but went on to grab seventh position, returning to the points after his finishing streak was ended at the preceding event in Azerbaijan.
"Finishing seventh is a great result for the team and a nice reward considering how difficult this weekend has been for us," he said.
“We struggled in practice, but come qualifying and the race we were quite strong and we came home with some good points.
"It wasn’t the easiest of races for me. I made a good start, but I lost places to both Esteban and Lewis at Turn 1.
"Thankfully I was able to pass them both at turn three and regain my starting position.
"I suffered from a lot of front graining in my first stint, but after the pit stop I was able to settle down into a rhythm, even though it wasn’t enough to attack [Romain] Grosjean.
“We had very similar pace to him so we couldn’t get any closer. It has been a difficult weekend, but we recovered well and we can be happy with the outcome."
