Sergio Perez rued Racing Point’s decision to pit under the Safety Car after losing out on a podium at Imola on Sunday.
Starting 11th, a long first stint saw the Mexican jump the entire midfield to sit fourth behind the top three and would then inherit third when Max Verstappen suffered a tyre failure approaching Tamburello.
However, under the subsequent Safety Car, Perez joined the majority in stopping for soft tyres, dropping him to seventh before gaining a place to P6.
“Looking at it it didn’t make sense at the time, the call was very late, but it’s always easy to take the right decision after the race,” he told Sky Sports.
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“Overtaking today was extremely difficult. I haven’t spoken to the team yet but they must have some reason for it.
“Painful, painful day because we had that podium in the pocket. It’s just hard to digest.
“I think they are as disappointed as I am right now and we are a team, we lose and also win together so in hindsight it was the wrong call today.
“We put ourselves in a position to win that podium, but yeah it is a painful day and also a painful day in the Championship. We basically gave the podium to [Daniel] Ricciardo.”
Indeed, Renault has now vaulted up to third place in the Constructors’ standings after Sunday, a single point ahead of both McLaren and Racing Point.