Sergio Perez believes he is close to securing a detail to retain his place at Force India next season.
Perez joined the team this year after spending a single season at McLaren.
“I think we should be very close to commit for next year with the team,” he said in today’s press conference in Singapore.
“But you never know, I have experience from the past, so you never know what’s going to happen.”
Force India are in a close battle with McLaren for fifth place in the constructors’ championship but Perez says he is “optimistic” they can challenge his former team this weekend.
“We have a good upgrade package and I believe we can be competitive,” he said.
“Definitely our target is definitely the McLarens which we are fighting really close and hopefully we can score more points than them this weekend with both cars. The upgrade package will give us some boosts.”
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Image © Force India
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2014, 12:13
FI could do worse than Perez, and he on the other hand can also be satisfied with the team, so yeah, a deal would make a lot of sense
Raveendhana (@raveendhana)
18th September 2014, 12:20
Yup force india lost their chance this season to make a name for themself, by losing their early advantage to williams. perez has has no other choice other than FI.
Retired (@jeff1s)
18th September 2014, 13:13
He’d deserve it. He’s having one of his best season in the sport this year next to a very talented team-mate in the name of Nico Hülkenberg and definitely proved he manned up in wheel to wheel racing.
Force India is having a tough season despite high expectations and a Mercedes powered car, so it sounds credible to think they’d like to retain both their drivers.
DaveF1 (@davef1)
18th September 2014, 14:22
Consistency is something Perez needs to improve upon. He’s certainly capable of producing drivers on par (and sometimes even better) than Hulkenberg but he isn’t really able to to them on a constant basis. However he seems to have had the edge over Nico in the past 2 races and he had a really strong end to the season last years so if he can keep up his current form and emulate some of those results from last year then its a no-brainer that deserves to keep his seat at Force India.
JeffreyJ
18th September 2014, 15:00
Yeah he’s shown flashes and is on a good run now. I just struggle to see DWC potential in him.
I just think with Frijns, Vandoorne, Sainz JR and a few others (Wiggens,) looking ready to step up and guys like Kobayashi, Grosjean and Bianchi (and JEV imho) in desparete need of better cars, F1 would be better off if some of the ‘meh’ or worse types left the sport. I’m thinking about Perez in this regard obviously but even more so Sutil, Gutierrez, Chilton, Maldonado, Ericsson and actually Massa and Button as well, although I love dudes as personalities.
In a way I would like to see Alonso and/or Vettel do something because it opens up possibilities for at least some of those to move.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
18th September 2014, 16:10
Whilst I am a fan of Perez, unless he can more consistently find the form he showed in Monza and Bahrain, I feel his seat will come under threat next year from the raft of Mercedes-backed drivers (Juncadella, Merhi, Wehrlein – Vietoris and Wickens have unfortunately hit the age ceiling). Of the three Force India reserve and 2012 European F3 champion, when he beat Raffaele Marciello no less, Daniel Juncadella will likely be the most potent threat to Sergio in 2015, albeit Wehrlein is now Mercedes reserve and was also impressive in European F3 and Merhi could even be Formula Renault 3.5 champion on his return to single seaters. All three are likely and realistic candidates for race seats in 2015 and 2016, and all three prove that mediocre performances in the ultra-competitive DTM aren’t necessarily the work of a mediocre racing driver…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
18th September 2014, 17:37
Wooah, that’ll send the driver market crazy!
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th September 2014, 18:21
Many believed that his career was over after he got sacked by McLaren at the end of last year. I’d say this guy is in F1 long term. He’s only 24, has plenty of talent, and good backing.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
18th September 2014, 19:36
I am the complete opposite to Perez’ biggest fan, but Force India would be absolutely stupid to dump him.
Whilst his performances have still been patchy at times and he has found himself in a lot of incidents, when he is on it, he delivers some incredible results. Not only has he bridged the gap to Nico Hulkenberg in recent events in qualifying, he has also out-raced the German on a number of occasions, not to mention which Force India driver has a podium and which does not. I am well aware that it is still 70-39 in Hulkenberg’s favour at the moment, but the pendulum has swung in that particular battle. If the Mexican could finish the season with 2/3rds of Hulkenberg’s total, I would rate him far better than for his efforts at Sauber and at McLaren.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
18th September 2014, 20:11
@craig-o – I agree mostly with your sentiments, but the thing stopping Sergio from being expelled is ocassional flashes of Ricciardo-grade brilliance. These eye-catching performances, in 2012 especially, saw him ranked above ability, and as we have seen with Verstappen, F1 teams do have a tendency to fall for the “driver of the month”, as McLaren did when they overlooked Hulkenberg in 2012. As I argue above though, Checo is not short of competition for his seat, and sporadic excellence may not be enough to prevent a Juncadella, Wehrlein or Merhi from taking his seat. That however is presuming Sergio doesn’t have a Grosjean-esque renaissance…
George (@george)
18th September 2014, 21:33
If Perez can keep putting in performances like he did at Monza while cutting out racing errors like at Montreal it’ll be a no-brainer for FI to hold onto him. I’ve been warming to him this year, he seems to be improving which is a good sign.
On Force India’s side, they need solid point scorers to secure championship winnings, especially considering Mallya’s current troubles. Hiring a rookie is a dangerous move in that regard.
Marc Thielke (@motor)
18th September 2014, 21:54
I too have been impressed with his development. I am not a fan but I am pleased to see a North American in a F1 seat.
However, I think to Mark Webber’s comment that F1 should not be ‘a finishing school’, drivers should come prepared and may not be given time to improve. I think Perez deserves a seat but he will be lucky to have had four years to improve and then secure a 2015 seat.
Toby. (@toby)
19th September 2014, 10:30
Slightly off topic, but does anybody know the name of the design of those glasses he’s wearing in the header photo? I’ve been looking for a pair for months now.
Marc Thielke (@motor)
20th September 2014, 0:25
Google image search failed. But Oakley Frogskins Polished Clear are close.
Marc Thielke (@motor)
20th September 2014, 0:35
Oh, another guess and much closer to what Perez is wearing, and much more expensive ;)
Oliver Peoples Cabrillo West Crystal 1101ZA Polarized