Sergio Perez 'flawless' in Monaco - Force India boss Vijay Mallya
Force India boss Vijay Mallya feels Sergio Perez produced a "flawless" Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix performance to underline the belief shown in the Mexican
In what is effectively an out-of-date F1 car as the team waits to introduce its , Perez finished a season-high seventh after qualifying in the same position.
Perez recently remarked that he feels he is currently at the top of his game, and Mallya sees no reason to disagree.
Speaking to AUTOSPORT, Mallya said: "If he, on his own admission, feels he has matured and is driving better, then fine, it can only be another positive for us.
"I took him because I knew he had great talent. Obviously I wouldn't have been so keen on him otherwise.
"Last season he drove well for us, and then I renewed his contract again for another year, and took a further year option.
"If I didn't have faith in him then that would not have been the case.
"Around Monaco he showed exactly what he is capable of. He had a flawless qualifying, and an equally flawless race. He did brilliantly."
The streets of the Principality have always proven a happy hunting ground for Force India, and last Sunday's race continued that trend.
Unfortunately for Perez's team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, though, the weekend was a tough one.
After qualifying 15th, the German was shunted into a barrier at Mirabeau on lap one following an aggressive move by McLaren's Fernando Alonso.
Mallya added: "It was very unfortunate Fernando took out Nico on the first lap, but otherwise he could also have theoretically finished well into the points."
A bonus for Force India was its strong form on Pirelli's super-soft tyre compound, which will also be used at the next two races in Canada and Austria.
Mallya would like to believe that although the circuits in Montreal and Spielberg are much quicker, his team should be capable of further positive performances.
"The car does go well on the super-softs," said Mallya.
"Theoretically, if you use the same yardstick, the car should then also go well in Canada and Austria.
"In building this team from last to sixth, I've always said to my engineering team, 'look, the car should go well on all tyres and all circuits'.
"I don't want a car that only does well on certain circuits and not well on others, so I am maintaining that philosophy of direction with my engineering team.
"Invariably there are certain circuits and tyre compounds that suit the car better - Monaco is one of them - and we exploited that opportunity, so hopefully we can exploit two more."
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