McLaren insists it has no concerns about the recent struggles of 2013 recruit Sergio Perez, who had another incident-filled race in the Indian Grand Prix.
The Mexican has not scored a point since he signed for McLaren before the Japanese Grand Prix and, for the third straight race, he was involved in incidents on track.
After spinning out in Japan, and getting involved in a first-lap clash in Korea, Perez’s Indian race was wrecked by a puncture he suffered after colliding with Daniel Ricciardo.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh sees no reasons to worry though, as he thinks Perez is going through a learning process that all youngsters experience.
“He is a young and exciting driver,” explained Whitmarsh. “Exciting can be good, it can be bad. But I think he did a fantastic job to be up there [eighth] in qualifying.
“He has the speed, and he wants to get up there and win. But if he hasn’t got something to learn at 22, there is something wrong.
“I haven’t spent much time with him, but [in] the time I have spent [I've found] he is very intelligent, and very ambitious. And, at the moment, he has a good level of humility.
“If we can turn him into a world champion he will lose some of that along the way.”
Perez is contracted to Sauber until the end of the year, which means McLaren is unlikely to be able to work in detail with him until the start of 2013.
But Whitmarsh hinted he may try to push to get the Mexican earlier in the winter.
“We are trying to be respectful of the fact that he is doing a job at Sauber,” he added.
“We have had limited contact at the moment. Sauber have been very gracious and they have accepted what is happening and understand why Sergio is doing it.
“We have a very good relationship with Sauber but I don’t think it is appropriate to push the point at the moment.”
John James Jean Pierre Jarier Max Jean Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment