Sergio Perez has given a vote of confidence to the new rules for the 2017 F1 season, saying the sport is going in the right direction.
“I really hope that these new regulations will test us as drivers and put us under pressure,” said the Force India driver.
Perez predicted the biggest change for drivers physically will be “the energy and force you feel through the corners”.
“It’s going to be much more physical with bigger lateral forces. Also, I expect less degradation with this year’s tyres so the rhythm of the races is going to be faster with less drop-off.”
The new cars will be a “massive physical challenge” for drivers, he believes.
“Normally I would spend the month before testing doing intensive training, but this year I’ve been working really hard for two and a half months,” he said. “I’ve been training in the hot weather too.”
Force India launched its new car today as it aims to improve on its best-ever result of fourth in the world championship. Perez said he hopes they can be “one of the surprises of the season”.
“I even dream that we can achieve our first victory together,” he said. “This is a pure racing team. Everybody understands their role and we all work well together. That’s why I believe we can keep delivering in 2017.”
2017 F1 season
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Pyon (@pyon)
22nd February 2017, 16:38
I don’t believe less degradation on the tyres will help Perez much, as I have always believed Perez tyre management was the one of the main reason he was able to get those good results over the last two years.
Tayyib
22nd February 2017, 17:21
I thought this too. Its another for Sergio. He’s been pretty impressive overall in his F1 career. The only real down was Mclaren but he bounced back really well at Force India. To beat Hulkenberg who we all rate highly in 2/3 seasons they were there is very good. He’s very consistent, very clever and has a good feel for the car and he seems to have matured a lot more, his drive at Monaco was a very calm and measured performance in a crazy race. What we’re waiting to see is has he got the real raw speed to challenge a Ricciardo or a Hamilton etc. The rules should give him that opportunity and he’ll be highly motivated to beat highly rated Ocon, its another way of motivating him and I’m hoping for things from Perez. But he might have to outdrive the car, I dont think Force India can be as competitive or finish 4th again.
dex022 (@dex022)
22nd February 2017, 18:03
Spot on.
Hugh (@hugh11)
22nd February 2017, 17:13
Every team claims to be making forward strides at the start of every season, tbh I take comments like this with a pinch of salt.
Rhys L
23rd February 2017, 2:46
Well, they might not be lying. But if all teams make a stride forward, then they’re in the same position as before anyway.
It comes down to who made the biggest stride.
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
22nd February 2017, 17:17
well if FI and Renault both get their wish (3rd & 5th constructors respectively) then things may look bad for Ferrari’s chances of being top 3 (never mind McLaren). But whilst I applaud the ambition it really would be quite a turn-up if that happened! (though one should never rule out a Ferrari melt-down)