Did McLaren Jump the Gun with Pérez?

lewymp4 said:
Whitmarsh said he believed that DiResta was too old compared with Perez, but IMO Hulkenberg would have been a better choice to replace Lewis. Unfortunately Nico doesn't have the richest man in the world backing him.
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I'm not even sure that Telmex money followed Perez. I think it stayed with Sauber.
 
I've not read the whole of this thread and so I don't know how many people have uttered my opinion which is that they should have snapped up Hulkenberg. I've seen a few share the opinion.

To me Hulkenberg is a future world champion and I think he is a brilliant driver. He has come back into Force India in difficult circumstances having a year out and has clearly outshone Di Resta. Quite frankly I have never got this whole hype surrounding Di Resta. To me he is nothing more than an average driver. I think the BBC big him up because DC is his best mate and because he's Scottish. But quite frankly he never sets the world on fire with his raw speed and occasionally he has pulled off a solid drive by looking after his tyres. He has never blown anyone away with overtakes, raw speed or anything else and he comes across as dull and surly.

Anyway, back to the point, Hulkenberg would have fitted in perfectly at McLaren. He is far less erratic than Perez. He without a doubt has more raw speed than Perez and I think what McLaren will be lacking without LH is that 1 lap pace. Maybe they regret it now, who knows.
 
Couldn't agree with you more about Di Resta!
I'd be really interested to hear how Mclarens thought process went regarding that decision. They'd obviously thought about it when they got wind Hamilton might not play ball, even though at the time Whitmarsh denied it, because the announcement came so quickly. So I wonder how they Arrived at their decision?
 
Quite frankly I think the decision from McLaren was one of almost panic and shock. They didn't expect Lewis to go. That was clear at Singapore. They thought he was staying. The next thing you know he was leaving and they signed Perez. McLaren always talk the talk and with Perez they thought they had this superstar who as Whitmarsh said has these "giant killing performances" or something of that kind. He fitted their bill but I think that is all they looked at, I don't think they looked at much more than that. If they would have looked at the long-term or even the short-term they would have signed Hulkenberg or Raikkonen. I also rate Sutil and Kovalainen. Sutil outclassed Di Resta in the 2nd half of 2011 and then was sacked. Heikki was blown away by Lewis BUT he could beat Lewis in qualifying on raw speed. Not many drivers on the grid could boast that. I reckon he has now become a better racer and could become a formidable force at the front. Seriously what were they thinking with Perez with what else is on offer...
 
I like Heikki. I remember watching him beat Schumacher at ROC at the State de France. I know that's no real measure, it's Micky mouse but I had my eye on him after that and was pleased when he went to be Lewis' team mate.........but then disappointed with his performances once there. He's since said he wasn't ready for it, but would be better equipped and go about it different,y if he went there now. I think Perez will struggle with the culture and politics there, he's very young. They had so much choice,like you said. I'm not rubbishing Perez, I think he has potential, but Mclaren don't need to nurture potential, they can hire the finished article. I Also think they've left themselves with missing skill sets between the two drivers, one lap speed and setting up the car.
 
Can I bring this thread back up.

Mclaren haven't jumped the gun with Perez. IMHO Perez is for the future and Mclaren will allow him to continue his development. I do think that Mclaren will make Jenson solely the number 1 driver for the next two season to get that second title. However if Perez does show signs of winning the title more they'll then shift they attention all on him and his future. I honest to god think Perez is capable of probably winning title on a regular bases than Hulkenberg and that's why Mclaren have signed him :).
 
Well HammydiRestarules only time will tell but with the Hulk putting in yet another strong performance at the weekend its just strengthening my view that Mclaren jumped too soon and went for the wrong driver.

Don't get me wrong. I rate Perez very highly and I'm sure he will be a future GP race winner (although I warn you I've said that about Grosjean too) but I just think Hulkenberg is more of the whole package. A champion needs to be able to bring home results even on a bad day and I'm not sure we've seen Perez show that at anypoint in his F1 career or in his junior career.
 
RasputinLives - I remember McLaren being similarly positive about Heikki Kovalainen when he signed... However, that signing was very much not designed as a driver who would challenge the front every race (And so it emerged) - Personally, I can't see Perez being much more than a Kovalainen (or a Berger, or a Coulthard, or a (Michael) Andretti)..... They've had 2 top drivers battling it out over the last 3 years, and have been widely criticised by people for doing that!... Maybe they've decided to move the other way.
 
It is an odd state of affairs at McLaren: They're prepared to have 2 top drivers dicing it out when they're Hamilton and Button (or Hamilton and Alonso, or Senna and Prost), yet there also seems to be a default situation to bring in subservient number 2s - for example Kovalainen, Berger, Michael Andretti etc etc - all of whom are brought in to fanfares, but everyone *KNOWS* that they're there as number 2 drivers.... Perez seems to be of this mould, but may prove me wrong...

Furthermore, it is interesting that Ferrari didn't think he was "ready" - this could raise the other side of the story - was Perez deemed too fast for Alonso? ;)
 
tranquility2k9 said:
I've not read the whole of this thread and so I don't know how many people have uttered my opinion which is that they should have snapped up Hulkenberg. I've seen a few share the opinion.

To me Hulkenberg is a future world champion and I think he is a brilliant driver. He has come back into Force India in difficult circumstances having a year out and has clearly outshone Di Resta. Quite frankly I have never got this whole hype surrounding Di Resta. To me he is nothing more than an average driver. I think the BBC big him up because DC is his best mate and because he's Scottish. But quite frankly he never sets the world on fire with his raw speed and occasionally he has pulled off a solid drive by looking after his tyres. He has never blown anyone away with overtakes, raw speed or anything else and he comes across as dull and surly.

Anyway, back to the point, Hulkenberg would have fitted in perfectly at McLaren. He is far less erratic than Perez. He without a doubt has more raw speed than Perez and I think what McLaren will be lacking without LH is that 1 lap pace. Maybe they regret it now, who knows.
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the hype around Di Resta started at ITV namely because everyone rated Vettel as future world champion and the only one who beat him as a teammate was Di Resta in Euro F3 then obviously and the fact he was managed by Lewis 's dad and got Mercedes backing him suggests he is the real deal

Di Resta is Dario Franchitti's cousin who responsible for putting a good word for him at Mercedes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20403485
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20071296 - I don't listen to the BS Sam Michael delivers:thinking::whistle:

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/186296...tm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/12/sport/motorsport/f1-perez-mclaren-motorsport/index.html

Now normally when a driver signs for another team usually all the new parts introduced by the team goes to his teammate most evident when testing

But there is no testing so it seems the timing of the announcement has taken the edge off Sergio

No points in 5 races now

Does anyone think he is still better than Maldonado who beat him in GP2 but everyone thought Sergio's long term potential was better

The Artist..... said:
RasputinLives - I remember McLaren being similarly positive about Heikki Kovalainen when he signed... However, that signing was very much not designed as a driver who would challenge the front every race (And so it emerged) - Personally, I can't see Perez being much more than a Kovalainen (or a Berger, or a Coulthard, or a (Michael) Andretti)..... They've had 2 top drivers battling it out over the last 3 years, and have been widely criticised by people for doing that!... Maybe they've decided to move the other way.
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They were only positive because anything was better than the poisonous and tense atmosphere Alonso bought to MClaren when things got sour...imagine you're the Mclaren engineers who had to prepare for Alonso to come through the MClaren factory in 2007 with Ron around ..... it must have been intense and stressful

tranquility2k9 said:
Quite frankly I think the decision from McLaren was one of almost panic and shock. They didn't expect Lewis to go. That was clear at Singapore. They thought he was staying. The next thing you know he was leaving and they signed Perez. McLaren always talk the talk and with Perez they thought they had this superstar who as Whitmarsh said has these "giant killing performances" or something of that kind. He fitted their bill but I think that is all they looked at, I don't think they looked at much more than that. If they would have looked at the long-term or even the short-term they would have signed Hulkenberg or Raikkonen. I also rate Sutil and Kovalainen. Sutil outclassed Di Resta in the 2nd half of 2011 and then was sacked. Heikki was blown away by Lewis BUT he could beat Lewis in qualifying on raw speed. Not many drivers on the grid could boast that. I reckon he has now become a better racer and could become a formidable force at the front. Seriously what were they thinking with Perez with what else is on offer...
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Mclaren have a history of drivers with potential who will come good in the end starting with Prost, Senna, Hakkinen (after a lull), Raikkonen, Hamilton

They have also made a few stinking decisions as well - Andretti - I want to stay and travel from AMerica, Mansell ( I'm too fat for the car) , Montoya ( I don;t like the politics having jumped ship)

I think they thought given Monza where Sergio's value rose up they made it on that decision... looks like Sergio will need to spend the winter getting his mindset right as he does not appear ready to be a top tier driver
 

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