Team Principal of McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh, has said his second driver Sergio Perez is "too polite" on track and needs to "toughen up."
The Mexican is not currently exuding confidence after another mediocre showing in China. Perez has so far finished 11th, ninth and 11th in the opening three rounds of the 2013 season and that simply is not good enough, despite the MP4-28's obvious flaws.
Speaking to The Guardian, Whitmarsh said "I think he's been very polite so far this year, he needs to toughen up. He's been allowing people past him."
McLaren's newest signing has so far failed to match up to the incredible raw pace last seen in mid-2012 and since moving to the Woking based team all he has had is criticism over his lack of results.
Some have even said others deserve the seat more, Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle citing Nico Hulkenberg as a better option. However Perez is still young and new in the team, one which is very different to his last.
Whitmarsh added "He's still a very young guy in a big team with lots of expectations so you're under a lot more scrutiny and it's tougher.
"And he's got a team-mate [Button] who's doing a great job, so there's some pressure there, and this won't go down as his best weekend, of that I'm sure."
In contrast to the Mexican's first few races, Jenson Button has shown strong form and pace. Some have said he has even outdriven the McLaren after finishing fifth at last weekends Chinese Grand Prix, the position he looked set to cross the line in at the Malaysian Grand Prix before a problem in the pit stop shattered his race.
Perez knows he can do better and described the last race in China as "difficult", saying in a team statement "This was a difficult afternoon for me - there's a lot for us to analyse, and a lot to learn. It wasn't my best weekend in terms of pace, so there's some work to do.
He continued "I had a reasonably good first stint and thought we could achieve a good result with the strategy, but we encountered degradation with the tyres and that compromised our pace.
"We still don't have the speed in the car, but it's been a useful learning weekend for the whole team, we got some useful points on the board, and we head to the next race with a clearer idea of just what we can do."
He also recognised the superb race driven by his team-mate, adding "congratulations to Jenson - he drove a fantastic race today. He found a better rhythm and really made the strategy work. I couldn't find a flow throughout the whole race and was struggling with the car."
McLaren go to Bahrain hoping for more points scoring positions and a continuation of the upward progression.
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| (c) Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
Speaking to The Guardian, Whitmarsh said "I think he's been very polite so far this year, he needs to toughen up. He's been allowing people past him."
McLaren's newest signing has so far failed to match up to the incredible raw pace last seen in mid-2012 and since moving to the Woking based team all he has had is criticism over his lack of results.
Some have even said others deserve the seat more, Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle citing Nico Hulkenberg as a better option. However Perez is still young and new in the team, one which is very different to his last.
Whitmarsh added "He's still a very young guy in a big team with lots of expectations so you're under a lot more scrutiny and it's tougher.
"And he's got a team-mate [Button] who's doing a great job, so there's some pressure there, and this won't go down as his best weekend, of that I'm sure."
In contrast to the Mexican's first few races, Jenson Button has shown strong form and pace. Some have said he has even outdriven the McLaren after finishing fifth at last weekends Chinese Grand Prix, the position he looked set to cross the line in at the Malaysian Grand Prix before a problem in the pit stop shattered his race.
Perez knows he can do better and described the last race in China as "difficult", saying in a team statement "This was a difficult afternoon for me - there's a lot for us to analyse, and a lot to learn. It wasn't my best weekend in terms of pace, so there's some work to do.
He continued "I had a reasonably good first stint and thought we could achieve a good result with the strategy, but we encountered degradation with the tyres and that compromised our pace.
"We still don't have the speed in the car, but it's been a useful learning weekend for the whole team, we got some useful points on the board, and we head to the next race with a clearer idea of just what we can do."
He also recognised the superb race driven by his team-mate, adding "congratulations to Jenson - he drove a fantastic race today. He found a better rhythm and really made the strategy work. I couldn't find a flow throughout the whole race and was struggling with the car."
McLaren go to Bahrain hoping for more points scoring positions and a continuation of the upward progression.
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