Sergio Perez has explained why he was called into the pits to retire from today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with just three laps to go.

The Mexican who started fourth on the grid was up to third after the opening lap before falling back behind teammate Verstappen and Hamilton in the first quarter of the race.

Perez came to Verstappen’s rescue after the first round of pitstops, where he was placed on ‘’Plan B’’ for the first stint of the race, meaning that he would stay out longer on his used softs in order for him to hold Hamilton back and help Verstappen reel in the Mercedes.

Red Bull’s gamble paid off, as Perez’s defending meant that the gap between the Brit and the Dutchman was now down to two seconds.

In his post-race interview, Perez reflected on his titanic battle with Hamilton, which earned him the praise of Verstappen, who called the Mexican a "legend" on the team radio.

"It was crucial at that time of the race, because I knew that basically, Lewis had the race under control, he had the virtual and safety car windows pretty much open and he could have done whatever he wanted at the time."

"He had the race under control, so it was pretty critical. But at the same time I was on extremely old tyres. It worked well. At the end of the day, I'm happy that I've helped Max and the team. It's a hard one because at the same time, you don't want to interfere too much in the drivers' championship. But I think above anything, it will always be my team."

However, Perez was concerned that a potential collision with the Brit could help decide the destiny of the World Championship.

"Yeah, at the same time, but obviously, I was in a position where I had not much to lose. It's not a place that you want to be in but at the same time I will always put my team above anything.  It was a gamble because at that point you are just a piece of cake basically when you are after 18, 19 laps on the soft tyres and Lewis was on fresh rubber."

"Getting him back out of Turn 6 was the key to it. As I said, I'm just happy that it worked out because I could have cost him half a second at the time, but I'm just happy that I cost him a bit longer."

But despite taking on a fresh set of tyres after the safety car was brought out in order to retrieve Nicholas Latifi’s wrecked Williams, Perez’s car was retired with three laps to go with an engine-related issue, effectively securing Mercedes’s eighth consecutive constructors’ championship.

"I didn't know anything at the time but obviously, the engine was on the limit, and the last thing we wanted to have is a failure and then not have the opportunity for Max to have that lap. It was on the limit, and you don't want to engine blow up."