Perez grabs 3rd spot, gives Force India 4th ever podium finish

Monaco: Sergio Perez gave Sahara Force India its fourth ever podium finish by taking the third spot while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg crossed the line at sixth in a memorable race at the Monaco Grand Prix of the Formula One Championships here today.

Mexican Perez finished 13.825secs behind winner Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and 7.252secs behind Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull in an incident-filled race.

Sahara Force India picked up 23 points from the race with German Hulkenberg finishing sixth to grab eight points to add to Perez's 15.

This was the best show of the season so far and fourth ever podium finish for Sahara Force India. Out of these four, Perez has done it thrice, including today's, though all of them are third place finishes -- Bahrain 2014 and Russia 2015.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella had finished second for Force India in the Belgian Grand Prix in 2009.

Starting at eighth place today, Perez moved his way up in the race and finished ahead of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany (Ferrari) and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Spain (McLaren).

Hulkenberg overtook Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) -- winner of seven of the eight races this season so far, at the final corner to finish at sixth.

Perez is currently at ninth at the Drivers Standings with 23 points while Hulkenberg is at 14th with 14 points.

With today's 23 points, Sahara Force India are now back at fifth place at the Constructors Standings with 37 points.