Sergio Perez aiming for the title in his first year with McLaren – Formula 1 news
Sergio Perez, who has been signed on by McLaren to replace Lewis Hamilton in 2013, says that he will be aiming to win the F1 championship in his first year with the team.
“I think expectations in terms of result, my target is to win titles with them and to win the championship already next year,” he said. “That takes a lot of work during the season so it's very important to start very well my preparations with them and try
to reach their targets.”
McLaren’s reliability issues have been no secret in the 2012 season which hindered their performance to a great extent.
“This year they have had many reliability issues and if they solved that they would have been fighting for the title,” Perez added. “So I think it's realistic what I'm saying and the team is capable of putting together a very strong car.”
He added that in order to succeed they need to aim high and that is the right way to think. He told that when you are driving for a mainstream team, you easily become the centre of attention so that when you perform well, everybody praises you and unfortunately
criticise if you lack in performing. He said that he is used to such behaviour during his time with Sauber F1.
Perez said that presently his focus is to work hard and develop a good relation with the team during the winter break before he goes out there to drive for them. He denied that he had any pressure from Sauber for not performing well enough since his deal
with McLaren.
McLaren’s team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, had confirmed Perez due to his earlier podiums for Sauber in the 2012 season. Perez started to fail at performing directly after the deal putting him under negative speculation. Whitmarsh dismissed any concerns
saying that the young driver had the potential to learn.
At a later occasion, the team principal admitted that the decision might be a risk. While Whitmarsh has plans to prepare Perez for the next season during the winter break, he admits that it is sad to see Hamilton leave.
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