Sergio Perez has spoken about his new team, McLaren, and the season ahead.
The Mexican was on his first PR duty for the team, answering questions from journalists and fans on a Google+ hangout. It was not his first visit to the impressive McLaren Technology Centre, he had previously visited for a seat fitting, simulator work and meeting his new engineers.
He was excited about his first PR activites as a fully fledged McLaren driver, saying “It’s been a great day, a very busy day, but an extremely nice day, I have really enjoyed all the work as an official McLaren driver. It’s been very special for me.”
Sergio touched on a number of topics, one of which was that he still has a lot to learn. “The most important thing for me is to get into the rhythm of everything automatically, in terms of the steering wheel, to get to know all the codes, all the functions of the car, to understand the car quite a lot in terms of setups for me to be able to have a good communication with my engineers," he said.
“I think it’s a very important part, as well, to build my relationship with my engineers, with the team, and to get together so when I come into the first test, I have as much familiarisation as possible with the whole team, and when we get to Melbourne that I’m very well-prepared and everything comes automatically, and I don’t have to think so many things. The more prepared I can get, the better it will be.”
Testing begins on the fifth of February at the Jerez circuit, the new McLaren MP4-28 will be unveiled on January the 31st.
He was also asked about his new relationship with McLaren's resident technical masterminds Paddy Lowe and Sam Michael. He said “We had some time during last year, some meetings obviously to start the familiarisation for them and for myself, so we start to understand ourselves. It’s going well, time after time it’s getting better. I think we are going in the right direction and we are doing good work so far, and we have a month to go before the first test.”
However he also revealed that he had little input in to the cars design due to only joining the team officially on the 1st of January.
“Obviously, it’s difficult for me to give any input but in the simulator while driving, the team already started to know me better in terms of driving style, so I think in that respect, that helped a bit. But if I’m honest, I didn’t have much input in the new car.”
Sergio was asked by Autosport about how he will attack 2013 with the new regulations like the revised Pirelli tyres. "The approach this year is different,"
"At Sauber it helped me because the approach was to always to try and maximise the race potential, not so much the qualifying. Here the target is to be in pole position and win the race.
"Normally the fastest strategy is the one that does more stops and you are pushing all the time. In that respect obviously I will try and help with my style, with my understanding of the tyres, but I think the approach has to be different."
Perez also discussed the rivalry between himself and his new team mate, Jenson Button. The 32 year old is 10 years his senior, but Perez expects to fight and match him.
He said "I will be disappointed if I don't beat him. I am here to win. We are all here to win. If you don't expect to win you should go home. I am here to win the championship. That is the target."
The relatively inexperienced Mexican obviously has the confidence in his abilities, but also commented on learning from Button. The Brit moves up to become the most experienced driver on the grid in 2013.
"I'm looking forward to working with Jenson – to learn from him. He's a great champion. The most experienced driver in the paddock now. So I think I have a lot to learn from him. And obviously I want to beat him as well.
"I'm looking forward to success with this team. I am quite surprised about how warm and together the team is. From the outside it looks as if it might be a very cold team – very strict and very cold – but when I came here I was surprised at what a great family it is. And if they choose me it's because they saw I can deliver what we all want here. To win the world championship. I have to respond to the trust they put in me."
Check out Sergio answering fan questions on a Google+ Hangout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWA1vg3UyE&feature=g-high-esi
The Mexican was on his first PR duty for the team, answering questions from journalists and fans on a Google+ hangout. It was not his first visit to the impressive McLaren Technology Centre, he had previously visited for a seat fitting, simulator work and meeting his new engineers.
He was excited about his first PR activites as a fully fledged McLaren driver, saying “It’s been a great day, a very busy day, but an extremely nice day, I have really enjoyed all the work as an official McLaren driver. It’s been very special for me.”
Sergio touched on a number of topics, one of which was that he still has a lot to learn. “The most important thing for me is to get into the rhythm of everything automatically, in terms of the steering wheel, to get to know all the codes, all the functions of the car, to understand the car quite a lot in terms of setups for me to be able to have a good communication with my engineers," he said.
“I think it’s a very important part, as well, to build my relationship with my engineers, with the team, and to get together so when I come into the first test, I have as much familiarisation as possible with the whole team, and when we get to Melbourne that I’m very well-prepared and everything comes automatically, and I don’t have to think so many things. The more prepared I can get, the better it will be.”
Testing begins on the fifth of February at the Jerez circuit, the new McLaren MP4-28 will be unveiled on January the 31st.
He was also asked about his new relationship with McLaren's resident technical masterminds Paddy Lowe and Sam Michael. He said “We had some time during last year, some meetings obviously to start the familiarisation for them and for myself, so we start to understand ourselves. It’s going well, time after time it’s getting better. I think we are going in the right direction and we are doing good work so far, and we have a month to go before the first test.”
However he also revealed that he had little input in to the cars design due to only joining the team officially on the 1st of January.
“Obviously, it’s difficult for me to give any input but in the simulator while driving, the team already started to know me better in terms of driving style, so I think in that respect, that helped a bit. But if I’m honest, I didn’t have much input in the new car.”
Sergio was asked by Autosport about how he will attack 2013 with the new regulations like the revised Pirelli tyres. "The approach this year is different,"
"At Sauber it helped me because the approach was to always to try and maximise the race potential, not so much the qualifying. Here the target is to be in pole position and win the race.
"Normally the fastest strategy is the one that does more stops and you are pushing all the time. In that respect obviously I will try and help with my style, with my understanding of the tyres, but I think the approach has to be different."
Perez also discussed the rivalry between himself and his new team mate, Jenson Button. The 32 year old is 10 years his senior, but Perez expects to fight and match him.
He said "I will be disappointed if I don't beat him. I am here to win. We are all here to win. If you don't expect to win you should go home. I am here to win the championship. That is the target."
The relatively inexperienced Mexican obviously has the confidence in his abilities, but also commented on learning from Button. The Brit moves up to become the most experienced driver on the grid in 2013.
"I'm looking forward to working with Jenson – to learn from him. He's a great champion. The most experienced driver in the paddock now. So I think I have a lot to learn from him. And obviously I want to beat him as well.
"I'm looking forward to success with this team. I am quite surprised about how warm and together the team is. From the outside it looks as if it might be a very cold team – very strict and very cold – but when I came here I was surprised at what a great family it is. And if they choose me it's because they saw I can deliver what we all want here. To win the world championship. I have to respond to the trust they put in me."
Check out Sergio answering fan questions on a Google+ Hangout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWA1vg3UyE&feature=g-high-esi
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.