Perez was on the ‘full limit’ in Baku to keep faster McLarens behind

Sergio Perez says he had to be on the “full limit” for the entirety of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in order to keep the “much faster” McLaren duo behind him.

Perez qualified an excellent fifth and found himself in an early tussle with Max Verstappen having jumped the Red Bull driver on the opening lap.

After initially holding fourth place in the early stages, he ultimately dropped behind Verstappen and the recovering Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, before focusing his attentions on consolidating sixth ahead of the McLaren pair.

“It was very tough,” Perez admitted. “It was a race where I spent the whole race on the full limit, just trying to get as much laptime out of it.

“It was looking good after lap one I was ahead of Verstappen, I overtook him at the start but then very early on we realised that it was not our race and I was more concerned about the McLaren’s, because they were very strong all the way through.

“They pushed me massively and I spent the whole race on the limit, it was quite a demanding race.”

Asked if he felt the race was as strong as his qualifying performance to claim fifth on the grid, Perez replied: “I think it was even better, given the pace that I had in the first stint and how my race was throughout.

“I was on the limit the whole race, apart from the last two laps. No mistakes, no lock ups and that was the only way to keep the McLaren’s behind us as there were much faster than us.”

Teammate Lance Stroll recovered from a difficult start to the weekend - which included a crash during Friday practice – to return to the points for the first time since the Melbourne season-opener as he finished ninth.

“I’m really pleased with the result with both cars in the points,” Stroll said.

“It was another good start to the race, first stint we overtook quite a few cars. I think it was a Toro Rosso and a couple of other cars, Ricciardo.

“Unfortunately, a slow pit stop meant Ricciardo managed to get us back there, but really happy with the car on the second stint and overtook some more cars. Was quite fortunate with the contact between Ricciardo and Kvyat, gained some places there, really happy with the car all afternoon and to pick up some points.

“Sergio clearly demonstrated [the pace] on Saturday and then again in the race,” he added. “Unfortunately I was on the backfoot after the crash on Friday so I didn’t get as much running and get the feeling of the car coming alive beneath me.

“I was still building up to it in the race, but it did feel really competitive when the car was working at its best.”

The result moves Racing Point to within a point of fourth-placed McLaren in the 2019 constructors’ championship.