2018 has been 'up and down' for Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez admits that the 2018 Formula One season has been "a bit up and down" in terms of success and failure as Force India's performances improved slightly towards the summer break following a slow start, as they moved from ninth in the constructor rankings to sixth.

So far, Perez is the only driver from the midfield to claim a podium position, which he managed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but has scored points at just four other GP races.

His season of ups and down could be highlighted by the fact that he is right in the middle of the driver rankings in tenth.

"It's been a bit up and down," Perez said. "A couple of very unlucky races, some pit stop issues or some... I'll say a couple of races, very much bad luck.

"But the rest I think has been promising. We started the season very slow. We were one of the slowest teams out there. We progressed. We are the only team out of the top three to score a podium... good points... and we are on track now.

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"I think it will depend what happens after the summer break in the first four or five races how much we close the gap to Renault. But I still believe fourth is possible.

"My season, I think up to now, it's been a bit up and down."

Perez admits that one of the major factors to the negative moments of the campaign has been his Force India car changing constantly, meaning he has to adapt alongside it.

"I've been having to do a lot of adaptation to the issues we have with the car right now, but still, good points, inside the top 10 in the Drivers' Championship, [sixth] in the Constructors’. I think it hasn't been too bad," he concluded.