Current Sergio Pérez

Sergio Perez Mendoza also known as 'Checo'. 21 years of age and 12 Grand Prix under his belt. Already has a contract for Sauber for next year, is part of the Ferrari driving acadamy, current favourite to replace Massa but what he didn't have was his own thread on Clip the Apex so I thought I'd sort him one out.

Won British Formula 3 at 18. Finished 12 in GP2 at 19. Finished runner-up in GP2 at 20. Made his GP debut at 21 and finished in the points only to be DQ'd later due to both Saubers breaking car regs. Had a big accident at Monoco and even chose to pull out of the Candian GP after realising he wasn't back to 100%. Has had 2 points finishes so far this season with his highest being a 7th place at Silverstone. Has been quite highly placed at both Spa and Monza in last couple of weeks but due to a tangle and a mechnical faiure didn't capitalise on it.

Has been beating his Team-mate Kobyashi reg in qualifying but has had difficulty translating that to the races. Sometimes you wonder if Perez suffers from Sauber tendency to try and make him do something different on the tyre strategy and whether he'd much rather just go for it and race with the pack. Having said that he has proved he has a head for strategy which could stand him in goodstead for the future.

Already impressed enough to get a second year with Sauber and is currently dueling with Paul Di Resta for the 'Rookie of the Year' award. What do you guys think of him? Star of the future or constant midfield runner?
 
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Nei
Fenderman said:
If I recall correctly Sergio was asked or told to pull his socks up quite early in the season. I doubt that his situation was as much of a surprise to him as it was to some of us. Not particularly surprised, personally, since he really hasn't shown he can get anything extra out of the car. Accepted it's a dog but ....
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Neither has Jenson to be fair and Perez has matched his best result of the season which isn't saying much. They want to get rid of him and are squeezing every justification out of his lap times but typically this has all been poorly managed and they've left him with very little time to find another seat. Apparently he was sent a contract which he signed and was hoping for confirmation only to receive a phone call out of the blue from Whitmarsh saying they are letting him go. The McLaren PR machine then goes into overdrive with claptrap like they're going to help him find a seat. With their recent history of non transparent contract negotiations, Perez should've had his backup plan ready. It took them several weeks of dithering to even take up the extra year option on Jenson's contract and the alarm bells should've been ringing then.
 
Well as Martin Brundle put it 'Mclaren have given a race seat to a young lad due to his speed and talent not because he's backed by a billionaire and we like that'

Lets remember here that Perez results before F1 were distinctly average and he landed the Sauber seat due to a huge financial backing so I'd have thought that with everyone complaining about drivers only getting seats due to money that this announcment would have been seen as a victory for F1 right? Yay Mclaren?

No it seems its an excuse for a bit of a strop and the Whitmarsh hate gang to come out again.

You people!
 
Quintessentially I was merely remarking on the perception that Sergio's situation is a surprise or somehow unforeseen. For over half the season pundits and fans alike have been pondering the wisdom of McLaren signing him up. If that has been happening from our side of the fence rest assured it has been happening within McLaren for just as long. Regardless of what we may think from the corporate speak and rumours that leak out, the team will have been talking to him to try to improve his performance and set the car up for him. McLaren is after all an experienced professional outfit.

With regard to my comment about getting "something extra out of the car", I think McLaren expected (or hoped) he had a wider operating window than Button. Forced to replace Hamilton, they needed someone to hustle the car and bring home points on the occasions the car was less than ideal. The car being so uncompetitive with the top runners has only served to exacerbate Perez's problem.

Anyway the guy is still better than some of the other chaps on the grid (I think but may be wrong as ever) so it's up to him to sell himself.
 
RasputinLives said:
Thing is though Hamberg Mclaren believe Magnussen would have put itnin front of those world champions.

From hearing the press stuff I've come to thr conclusion that Mclaren don't think Perez is a bad driver. They just think Magnusen is better.
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Yep know all this, my post was about him keeping it going and not being a pathetic twat like Maldonado (although granted Maldonado appears to have a seat) and fighting for his career, whilst doing no harm to the WCC points if it's converted during the race.

Not about McLaren making the wrong decision.
 
Perez "bought" his way into an F1 seat but that wasn't the reason McLaren signed him. He put in some brilliant performances at Sauber, albeit with differing strategies to the other teams around them. The question was posed on here Did McLaren jump the gun with Perez? and patently they did as he isn't good enough to drive for such a major F1 team. Let's see how Magnusen does, the last rookie Mclaren brought into F1 didn't do to badly did he?

Back to Perez, he'll do a good job at somewhere like Sauber or Force India as he's a solid driver with a pot of cash. I suspect he'll be be on the grid for 2014 but he's had his moment in the sun and couldn't cut it. To his credit he's been better in the Macca than Michael Andretti...
 
FB said:
To his credit he's been better in the Macca than Michael Andretti...
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That's debatable. In 1993 money "Checo" would only have 3 points from 17 GP. Michael managed 7 points in 13 races, including a podium at the Italian GP.

Obviously it's hard to compare drivers from different eras, but Perez' season has been just as forgettable as Andretti's, if not more.
And for the record, JB would have a measly 5 points in 1993 terms.
 
Agreed with the car's relative competitive bit Fenderman but it would've been immediately obvious to McLaren when they hired him exactly what his strengths were. In their own words they saw potential just as they see in Magnussen now and I don't think he's performed badly at all. I'm not a big fan of his either. The issue here is the decision to fire him this late in the season, having previously indicated via a new contract which he had signed and was waiting for confirmation that he was going to be retained. It could be potentially career destroying and I don't think McLaren have acted in good faith here. It's been reported that Perez is bringing no more than 6million to the table, out of which he expects to extract his salary, so he's hardly bringing serious cash like Maldonado.
 
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When did McLaren renew his contract? I thought it would run out at the end of the season. They may have given him hints that they will offer him a new contract but I still think it is his fault if he didn't negotiate with other teams, after all we are quite late into the season.
Other than that there have been reports that Telmex isn't funding McLaren which was a signaficant reason to why they signed him in the first place.
 
McLaren prepared and issued the contract. Perez signed and returned his part of the contract and returned it, but when the McLaren received Perez signed copy, they didn't sign their part.

That's significantly over and above hinting and Perez said he was 100% sure he was staying so something happened last minute.

Besides which I'm sure there were plenty of other drivers not negotiating and having back up plans, would Button have for instance?
 
To be honest I reckon that Button's contract was signed and competed ages ago but it does seem a bit harsh on Perez but that's how F1 is, but I must admit McLaren do seem to be a team that can trash a drivers career with a stroke of a pen it has happened in the past so it shouldn't be of any surprise to anyone and Perez should have been prepared for any eventuality instead of placing all his eggs in one basket maybe people should start pointing fingers at his manager for not approaching other teams just in case...

A lot of but's there I know.
 
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Hamberg said:
McLaren prepared and issued the contract. Perez signed and returned his part of the contract and returned it, but when the McLaren received Perez signed copy, they didn't sign their part.

That's significantly over and above hinting and Perez said he was 100% sure he was staying so something happened last minute.

Besides which I'm sure there were plenty of other drivers not negotiating and having back up plans, would Button have for instance?
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I've no reason to doubt you, but I've never heard this... Have you any credible source? Or was it a Martin Brundle quote?
 

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