Sawt Falasteen - Red Bull boss says Perez drove his 'best ever race'

He said the 33-year-old had demonstrated pace, cool temperament and great race management as he resisted a charge by team-mate and defending double world champion Max Verstappen to secure the fifth win of his career.

"Personally, I think it was the best ever race for Checo, managing the pace and the restart. The pace that he had! And those guys were going absolutely flat out until we thought we had an issue with Max."

Horner said the two drivers had been allowed to race each other in the closing stages until it was clear that there was a concern with Verstappen's car.

"We've got a great car and two great drivers. We talked about it in the briefing earlier, that you are free to race but keep it clean," he explained.

"All credit to the team. They've built an incredible car. What we saw today, with the two drivers pushing each other and Max coming through from 15th on the grid -- by half distance, he was already in P4! Outstanding."

By finishing second, Verstappen secured Red Bull a third consecutive one-two dating back to last year's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

He said he eased off in his pursuit of Perez to ensure points and took fastest lap to retain his lead in the drivers' title race.

"I was in second, we had a big gap behind and so at one point, we decided to just let's say, call it a day and just settle for second," he explained.

"Anyway, it was a good recovery. I gave it a go at the end for fastest lap and luckily it worked out."

T.Khatib--SF-PST