Perez says he had no expectations of finishing on the podium in Canadian GP

The Sauber driver made excellent use of a one-stop strategy and strong late-race pace to come through to finish third, having stayed out until lap 41 on his first set of tyres.

The result was Perez's second podium finish of the season, and saw him overtake Fernando Alonso - the man who had narrowly denied him victory in Malaysia - for third place in the closing stages.

"To be honest, starting 15th the last thing you think about is to end up on the podium," he said. "We went quite aggressive, the first stint was quite good, the stop very goo, and the second stint very, very good.

"We managed some overtaking manoeuvres, and then I saw that the degradation was not so high for me, I could manage my pace well and then I managed to get some other drivers."

Perez had not been in the points since his Sepang podium, so was thrilled that Sauber had been able to rediscover its form after some low-key races and a frustrating Saturday.

"It's a great result for the team after such a bad day yesterday," he said. "We had a lot of troubles with the brakes, and today it's just great to finish on the podium, it's a great boost for the team.

"After Malaysia it is our second time we get into the points and our second podium - hopefully we can keep it this way.

"We were really unlucky what happened in Monaco, for example, and Barcelona as well. It's great to come back and get a podium for the whole team."