If he'd been propelled from the energy of his adoring fans in the gransstand, Sergio Perez would have won Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix by a lap or more.
Unfortunately in the end he had to settle for a 'mere' podium. Having started from fourth on the grid, he made an early gain by passing George Russell on the opening lap, but he could do nothing about Lewis Hamilton.
Perez hoped to undercut the Mercedes by being the first to pit on lap 24 to trade in soft tyres for mediums, but there was a problem with the right-front wheel, which more than doubled the time he was stationary in the pit box.
As a result, He came out behind the two Ferrari drivers who were having a poor race. It took time to get past them and resume his third place spot, opening the door for Hamilton to make a later pit stop and retain second.
Perez kept the pressure on Hamilton for the rest of the race, but in the end he wasn't able to find a way past before the chequered flag came out.
"I did my best today and pushed really, really hard," he told the media after the race, while being cheered by the passionate Mexican fans.
“It was a very big opportunity. Mercedes was sliding quite a lot with the hard, especially at the beginning. They have very poor warm-up.
"Unfortunately we had a little bit of a slow stop which ruined the undercut on Lewis, and overtaking was really difficult," he confirmed.
"Without that I wouldn’t be that far from the Ferraris, because I ended up losing too much time with the Ferraris as well. Just all in all, it wasn’t a great day for us.
"Overtaking is so difficult that as soon as I got behind [Hamilton] it was so difficult to follow, so I had to stay in third," he sighed. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us today, but it is still a good podium.
“It’s always nice to be standing here. Such a special podium in front of the Foro Sol,” he continued.
"I obviously wanted more and I am a bit disappointed with the result to be honest, because I felt that we could have finished second."
That podium does mean Perez moves back ahead of Charles Leclerc in the drivers championship with two races remaining. The Ferrari could only manage to finish in sixth place, meaning that Perez now has a five place advantage.
Red Bull have already clinched the constructors championship leaving Ferrari and Mercedes fighting it out over the runners-up spot in the final standings.
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