Sergio Perez has called on Racing Point to refind their early-season performance if they want to capitalise on podium opportunities.
The controversial 'Pink Mercedes' hasn't been as strong in recent races as other midfield teams, notably McLaren and Renault, have improved while their car has stood still.
As a result, Perez and teammate Lance Stroll have found themselves more in the bottom half of the top 10, although the Canadian did benefit from the safety car and red flag at Monza to claim third.
But this shift has also seen the battle for P3 in the Constructors' Championship heat up with McLaren now 16 points ahead of Racing Point and Renault nine behind in fifth.
"We should be looking forward to being well into the points with both cars and open the gap to our competitors because that third place in the Constructors' does matter a lot to us," Perez said.
"We still have a bit of a pace difference to the top two teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, so that made things harder. And I also feel that for many reasons, we haven't maximised some of our weekends where we have a chance to be there on the podium.
"So we need to close up the gap to Red Bull and try to be there to make sure if they fail, we are the ones that take the podium."
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Given the performance of the Renault engine, some of Racing Point's recent dip could be track-specific, but Perez is sure they can be competitive everywhere.
"We know where the car is strong, where it is weak, and we just try to balance [it] out throughout every circuit," he stated.
"There are some circuits where we're going to be very strong, and others where we will struggle a bit more on.
"It's just important that when we struggle, we just try to minimise the damage."
