Sergio Perez says his seventh place in the Monaco Grand Prix is "a very important result" for Force India amid a tough start to the season.
Force India has lacked development on its 2015 car while it works on a B-spec car which it hopes to introduce at some point over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Despite being uncompetitive at certain circuits, the team was stronger in Monaco and Perez excelled to qualify in seventh place and hold station throughout the race.
Having taken his points tally for the season up to 11, Perez says the points are crucial as Force India looks to stay in touch with the other midfield teams.
"I’m very happy right now," Perez said. "As a team we’ve done a fantastic job all weekend and seventh place is the result of all this hard work. For me it was a normal race – very straightforward and quiet, which is strange for Monaco.
"I was racing on my own for most of the race because the cars ahead were able to pull a gap on me and I had space to the cars behind. It was difficult to keep concentration for 78 laps, but after the safety car I was on fresh supersoft tyres and it was really good fun. I was able to attack Kimi [Raikkonen], but there wasn’t an opportunity to get the position.
"It’s a very important result for the whole team and gives us six points for the championship. It means I’ve scored points in half the races this season, which shows we’ve done a good job of maximising our opportunities."
Click here for a gallery of Max Verstappen's crash with Romain Grosjean during the Monaco Grand Prix
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