Sergio Perez is hoping that his Indian Grand Prix weekend will avoid the misfortunes suffered in recent races.
A high-speed tyre delamination at the Korean Grand Prix delayed his progress and a puncture at the Japanese Grand Prix dropped him out of the points. He is looking to have a smoother run this weekend.
The Indian round of the Formula 1 season is always a popular one. Not only do drivers love travelling to the country but they also like the fast and flowing track layout.
Looking ahead to the race, Perez said: "I love travelling to India – it’s such a rich and vibrant country, and always an eye-opening place for any visitor. The Indian Grand Prix has been an interesting and exciting event for the past two years – I really think it’s starting to make its mark on the country. It’s well attended, and the crowds seem interested, enthusiastic and passionate – that’s always great to see.
"After two tricky races in Korea and Japan, in which I had good pace but just seemed to suffer a whole range of misfortune, I’ll be hoping for a smoother ride in the next flyaway double-header. It’s been frustrating to see decent results slip away from me, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to turn things around quickly"
He added: "With the race skipping a year for 2014, I hope we can help make this year’s event particularly memorable. We know we don’t have the machinery to fight the top four teams, but there’s always fierce competition around the fringes of the top 10; scrapping for points might not be what Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is all about, but it’s nonetheless satisfying to nail the set-up and the strategy and drive a perfect race. That’ll be my aim again this weekend."
Team-mate Jenson Button is aiming for a fight with faster cars at the Buddh International Circuit, but realistically he is expecting to battle for the minor points positions.
The Brit could take his seventh consecutive points score this season if he finishes inside the top 10 this weekend. "This is such a great racetrack – it’s fast, flowing and challenging," he said. "It’s pretty technical too, which is quite unusual for a fast circuit, but the flow from one corner to the next means that positioning the car is quite critical if you don’t want to fall out of the rhythm and lose time. Track positioning is also important because several areas of the circuit are extremely wide, and narrow down from corner-entry to exit.
"The long back straight will once again make it important to balance the car’s gearing and downforce for maximum speed with DRS. That straight, and the braking zone into Turn Four, are probably the most straightforward places on the circuit upon which to overtake. In fact, the rest of the circuit is quite fast, with only a single racing line, so trying to get past during the rest of the lap is pretty tricky."
Sharing his targets for the race, he added: "The last few races have shown that, realistically, we’ll once again be fighting for the minor points. Still, I enjoyed my races in Korea and particularly Japan – where it was both satisfying and unusual to be armed with fresh tyres and able to pick off cars on older rubber, as opposed to the other way round – so I’ll be looking to take the fight to some of the faster cars once again next weekend."
With rivals Force India struggling for pace, McLaren's fifth place in the constructor's standings looks to be safe.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The Indian round of the Formula 1 season is always a popular one. Not only do drivers love travelling to the country but they also like the fast and flowing track layout.
Looking ahead to the race, Perez said: "I love travelling to India – it’s such a rich and vibrant country, and always an eye-opening place for any visitor. The Indian Grand Prix has been an interesting and exciting event for the past two years – I really think it’s starting to make its mark on the country. It’s well attended, and the crowds seem interested, enthusiastic and passionate – that’s always great to see.
"After two tricky races in Korea and Japan, in which I had good pace but just seemed to suffer a whole range of misfortune, I’ll be hoping for a smoother ride in the next flyaway double-header. It’s been frustrating to see decent results slip away from me, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to turn things around quickly"
He added: "With the race skipping a year for 2014, I hope we can help make this year’s event particularly memorable. We know we don’t have the machinery to fight the top four teams, but there’s always fierce competition around the fringes of the top 10; scrapping for points might not be what Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is all about, but it’s nonetheless satisfying to nail the set-up and the strategy and drive a perfect race. That’ll be my aim again this weekend."
Team-mate Jenson Button is aiming for a fight with faster cars at the Buddh International Circuit, but realistically he is expecting to battle for the minor points positions.
The Brit could take his seventh consecutive points score this season if he finishes inside the top 10 this weekend. "This is such a great racetrack – it’s fast, flowing and challenging," he said. "It’s pretty technical too, which is quite unusual for a fast circuit, but the flow from one corner to the next means that positioning the car is quite critical if you don’t want to fall out of the rhythm and lose time. Track positioning is also important because several areas of the circuit are extremely wide, and narrow down from corner-entry to exit.
"The long back straight will once again make it important to balance the car’s gearing and downforce for maximum speed with DRS. That straight, and the braking zone into Turn Four, are probably the most straightforward places on the circuit upon which to overtake. In fact, the rest of the circuit is quite fast, with only a single racing line, so trying to get past during the rest of the lap is pretty tricky."
Sharing his targets for the race, he added: "The last few races have shown that, realistically, we’ll once again be fighting for the minor points. Still, I enjoyed my races in Korea and particularly Japan – where it was both satisfying and unusual to be armed with fresh tyres and able to pick off cars on older rubber, as opposed to the other way round – so I’ll be looking to take the fight to some of the faster cars once again next weekend."
With rivals Force India struggling for pace, McLaren's fifth place in the constructor's standings looks to be safe.
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