Perez was running jus൲t🐈 ahead of Valtteri Bottas when he came in for his first stop on Lap 26.

A sticky left-rear wheel nut cost him a couple of s🦄econds in the pit lane, allowing the Finn to overcut him for third place.

Red Bull gambled with a late second stop, utilising Perez’s s🌊pare set of medium tyres but it wasn’t enough as he ran out of laps.

“Yeah it was close, I think that was the right thing to do,” Perez said.  “We wereꦰ catching him up but we had very similar tyres. I think it was good to try it, unfortunately I got hurt a bit by the traffic there and just half a second is all we needed at the end. A bit of a shame, unfortunately today we had a slow stop.

“The boys have been incredible all year long, having the best stops, today unfortunꦅately that was ver🍸y costly. But we are a team and we will come back stronger.”

Team boss Chr🌳istian Horner felt Perez had the race to run with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton at the front, had he been able to clear Lando Norris on the opening lap.

“I thought he drove a very goo💟d race,” Horner added. “I think that it's a shame that he didn't quite manage to clear Lando on the first lap, he got held a little bit behind Lewis I think on the run down to Turn 4 And I think without that he would have been with that lea⛄d group.

“When we pitted him, it should have been comfortable for him to retain track position to Bottas but unfꦑortunately we had a problem with a left rear. And it cost him about two seconds and despite a stunning out-lap we just lost track position so at that point we then converted onto a two-stop. And I think another lap or so he would have regained that third place.”