Sergio Perez believes the Safety Car actually hurt his podium charge after finishing fourth at the Eifel Grand Prix.
The Mexican was starting to reel in Daniel Ricciardo on his newer tyres when Lando Norris, who he’d overtaken a few laps earlier, retired due to an engine failure with 16 laps to go.
But though the resulting Safety Car did help to evaporate the advantage the Australian had built up, it also had the effect of negating the speed advantage Perez had, with both drivers pitting for soft tyres.
“Without the Safety Car, we would have had a really strong chance [of a podium],” Checo believed, talking to Sky Sports. “We were catching Daniel very fast.
“The car was performing really well and I was really happy with the medium set so, towards the end, it was going to be really close. Then the safety car came out.
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“We stayed out on the first lap but then I asked the team if we were sure about it because of these conditions, I didn’t think I would manage to restart the tyre.”
A poor restart for Max Verstappen actually gave Perez a sniff of a move on Ricciardo at Turn 4, but after that the pace of the two cars was too similar, allowing the Renault driver to take his first podium since Monaco 2018.
It wasn’t all bad news for Racing Point, however, as fears of a tough day for their P3 aspirations in the Constructors’ standings were unfounded.
Instead, with each of their rivals having one car retire, the Silverstone-based team now holds that position after super-sub Nico Hulkenberg came through from 20th to P8.
“Overall a good day for the team because also, Nico did a fantastic job,” Perez commented.
“We have plenty of points in the championship. It was looking to be a really bad day in the championship and instead, it became a pretty good one.”
As for the German, he was unsurprisingly thrilled with his recovery, this after only stepping into the Racing Point in qualifying.
“Very happy with everything, to be honest,” Hulkenberg, who won ‘Driver of the Day’ said.
“The start wasn’t great, as expected kind of, but then Lap 1, I managed to find two spots I think. Then I kind of just really focused on myself, just really trying to find the good rhythm for myself in the car, being on the limit, which kind of happened halfway through the first stint.
“Then I managed to make the tyre last, and I think a long first stint was key then to a successful result. Obviously totally unexpected but totally appreciated and really happy for that.”
Those four points Nico scored may also prove crucial as that is the current gap Racing Point now holds over McLaren, with Renault a further two behind.
“They told me on the radio that now Racing Point is P3 in the championship, which is obviously great for them,” the ‘Hulk’ added.
“The season’s not over, but obviously for today, that’s great and probably was not too expected given where we started, so I’m happy that I was able to contribute a little bit.”
Of course, Hulkenberg couldn’t be let go without a question about the prospect of a comeback in 2021, this after he was spotted talking to Haas boss Guenther Steiner pre-race.
“No rush. I’m looking around, you know? Good things take time,” he replied.