Sunday: Pérez gives McLaren a top 5 finish

Sergio Pérez – 5th:

Unlike the last 2 or 3 weekends, I was finally able to enjoy a clean race, without any bad luck! 5th place is a great result for me. I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but it’s always better when you perform under pressure. I am extremely satisfied. In the last laps, it was fantastic to pass Kimi and Lewis in a single move. I just braked as late as possible for turn 4 to try to keep Lewis behind and I succeeded.

It’s been a difficult season, but today’s result is a promising sign and it really motivates the entire workforce for the last three races, where we will have to do our best to achieve good results.

To finish, I want to greatly congratulate Sebastian. He has demonstrated over the last few years that he is a truly great champion. He had an amazing season; what he achieved is incredible. I really hope we can compete against him next season!

Jenson Button – 14th:

« There are days like that… Coming out of turn 4 on the first lap, I was hit pretty hard on the right side by Fernando. I don’t know why he couldn’t go to the inside, because I gave him a lot of space, but he hit me. The contact damaged the car and the rim, which also caused a puncture, even though it only became a problem three laps later. It was really unfortunate that I was on mediums at the time of the puncture because those were the tires you wanted to go far with here! So, this incident ruined my strategy for the rest of the afternoon.

Without that, and the puncture, I think I could have enjoyed it. It’s just a shame because our car was fast – Checo demonstrated that it was possible to have a very good race.

Congratulations to Seb for his fourth consecutive title. It’s very impressive, especially to win four in a row. His team did an excellent job, Adrian Newey has shown how good he is, and Seb finished the job superbly by winning.