Sirotkin: The car was falling apart

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Sergey Sirotkin: The car was falling apart

Sergey Sirotkin: The car was falling apart

One of the slowest drivers on the track on Sunday night, Sergey Sirotkin put up one of the best fights in Singapore, battling his rivals and his car.

The Williams driver started Sunday night’s race from the back of the grid as the team struggled for pace in qualifying.

However, as the pit stops played out he found himself ahead of Sergio Perez and spent 17 laps keeping the Mexican driver at bay.

Perez, frustrated by his inability to pass Sirotkin, eventually did so by giving the Williams a hefty whack.

Watch: Perez smashes into Sirotkin

“It was a fight,” Sirotkin said.

“I fought all my way through, I was fighting and squeezing every single moment.

“We were in a good position at the beginning of the race, and up to the point of contact with the Force India car. This caused a lot of damage to my car and after that it was more about survival.

“It’s a difficult track to overtake, so I still fought as hard as I could to protect the car and keep my position, but lap after lap, it was becoming more difficult and the car was falling apart.

“I gave everything in terms of myself and with the car to bring the best performance home.”

The Russian driver was involved in another incident later in the race, this time he was the guilty party as he pushed Brendon Hartley into the wall.

And while that earned him a penalty, Williams tech chief Paddy Lowe was stil impressed with Sirotkin’s driving.

He said: “Sergey did a fantastic job, managing the tyre and his pace, keeping traffic behind him under a lot of pressure.

“He ultimately got caught up in an impact with Perez, and that ruined his race otherwise he could have been looking at quite a good finishing position.”

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