Bottas suffe🔥red a front-left tyre blowout while running in third place at the Losail International Circuit, dropping outside the top 10 after he recovered to the pit lane.

The Finn was fighting 🧸Perez for the final spot on the💮 podium, with the Mexican opting for an early first pit stop.

Perez was just o✃ver five seconds ahead of Alonso and on course for a comfortable podium finish unti🙈l Red Bull called him in for a second stop.

After seeing Bottas’ tyre blowout♑, P🅘erez said that Red Bull had no choice but to put him on a two-stop strategy. 

“We played it safe with𒁃 the explosions with the tyres out there,” Perez said after the race. “I think we were thinking more of the long-term picture. 

“I thiꦦnk when we saw what happened to the other cars we were a bit concerned [about] that, so we played it safe and in the end, I think we left some points on the table today but we managed to minimise the losses from today’s race.

“I think what happened to Valtte🀅ri put the tho♎ught in our heads. At the end of the day, it’s better than nothing.”

With the battle for the c💮onstructors’ battle so tight - just five points separate Mercedes and Red Bull going into Jeddah - Perez acknowledged that it was important to finish the race rather than take unnecessary risks.

“I did everything I could,” Perez added. “I gave my 100 percent and it was such an intense race. I think we didn’t maximise it in the end but it was a good performance and a good way to recover, especially starting P11, a lot of damage can happen. So to be able to come away with so♓me points🐼 is good.

“It’s a lot that we are fighting for and I’m a 𓃲team player. Of course, as a driver, you want to be on the ൲podium but it is the championship that matters. And as I say, fourth is better than nothing.”