Sergio Perez says he is unhappy some members of his Racing Point team are withholding information from him since announcing his impending departure.
Racing Point confirmed two weeks ago it had cut Perez’s contract short by two years in order to bring in Sebastian Vettel as his replacement. Perez said following this, team staff are already avoiding sharing some information with him.“Since the news came out, some people inside the team tend to hide things,” said Perez in today’s FIA press conference at Sochi Autodrom. “Which I don’t think is great.
“I think at the moment we just have to be as transparent as possible to make sure we achieve our goals and make sure that we score as many points as we possibly can.”
Perez said the team must maximise its points-scoring potential in order to achieve its potential in the championship.
“It’s going to be so crucial that we deliver every single point. It’s very important on the constructors championship. We still can have the best season in our history if we manage to finish third. I think we are all going to be very disappointed if we don’t get that third place in the constructors championship.”
As revealed by RaceFans, Perez accidentally overheard team owner Lawrence Stroll had decided to replace him with Vettel. He did not deny the story when it was put to him today.
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“I’m pretty disappointed to be honest that such things have come out from the team or something,” he said. “I think those things have to remain between the team and myself. I won’t be giving any information at all because I think it’s something that has to be kept internally.”
Perez goes into the weekend at a disadvantage compared to his team mate Lance Stroll as he still does not have the upgrade package the team introduced at the previous race. The only example was fitted to Stroll’s car at Mugello, but was destroyed when he crashed out of the race.
Racing Point has one example of the upgrade again this weekend, which will be fitted to Stroll’s car, as he is ahead in the championship.
Perez confirmed he has “none” of the new bodywork for the RP20, “just the rear suspension, we have an upgrade, it’s the only thing that I have.”
He believes the new parts bring a significant improvement to the car’s performance. “Given how close the grid is, a couple of tenths do make a difference to your final result.
“So I wish I had the upgrade this race but obviously, for obvious reasons, I won’t have them. But the team is working hard to try to give me the upgrade hopefully for the next weekend.”
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Rodber
24th September 2020, 13:50
Dieter, please tell him this is standard practice with all drivers leaving a team.
Danny (@denny)
24th September 2020, 14:18
Sainz and Daniel has full transparency in Mclaren and Renault, but you are right its common that driver who is leaving has provided with no information about plans and they are second to upgrades for car.
Witan
24th September 2020, 14:22
I doubt there is “full transparency” at Renault and McLaren for departing drivers.
abananasplitz
24th September 2020, 14:37
agreed, however there might be a dif level of transparancy between teams, but aye standard practice tbh so i dont see why he is bitching.
Jose Lopes da Silva
24th September 2020, 14:38
and standard practice in any company.
Red Pill (@redpill)
24th September 2020, 14:14
Things are starting to get ugly, public outing of dirty laundry is never a good thing but understandable especially when the way you find out that you’re being let go and a strong dose nepotism
What happens if Checo beats Stroll?
Esploratore (@esploratore)
24th September 2020, 18:34
I’m not the most annoyed by the nepotism, but I’m more annoyed by the chasing old relics, as in taking vettel.
My question would be, what happens if stroll beats vettel? Will he be seen for the average driver he is?
Witan
24th September 2020, 14:19
Grow up, and stop whinging Mr P.
Jere (@jerejj)
24th September 2020, 14:35
And there’s only one ‘obvious reason’ and it’s that he is going to leave the team, so of course, his teammate gets the preference when it comes to upgrades.
Jamal
24th September 2020, 14:39
Make a stand Sergio and get out now, or shut up please.
Jose Lopes da Silva
24th September 2020, 14:39
Perez does not own the team. Who do he thinks he is?
anon
24th September 2020, 17:37
The guy who saved everyone’s jobs probably…
Colin
24th September 2020, 17:55
and he’s being compensated appropriately for that.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
24th September 2020, 18:35
Indeed, can’t stand all this perez hate, he’s absolutely justified to say what he did after the way they treated him.
OOliver
24th September 2020, 15:03
Perez had better take it easy lest another inconclusive Covid test completely takes him out for the rest of the season.
Dave
24th September 2020, 16:44
Did I misread this as “Ocon caused Perez a positive COVID-19 result”?
svianna (@svianna)
24th September 2020, 15:17
You just leaked that they are withholding things from you, chichorito. And they want the team to “trust” you? Still under COVID symptoms? Not smart.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
24th September 2020, 17:48
Some of the obvious reasons, of course, are that Stroll is ahead on the championship, and hence has the priority in upgrades.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
24th September 2020, 18:37
Being ahead in the championship is not enough, performance needs to be superior, upgrades are best given to the strongest driver.
Aaditya (@neutronstar)
24th September 2020, 20:15
@esploratore Perez hasn’t been convincingly better enough than Stroll this season to warrant preferential treatment with respect to upgrades, heck, I don’t feel like he’s been “better” at all. He is the leaving driver anyway, not sure what he’s gonna gain within the team by making these statements.
Robbie (@robbie)
24th September 2020, 22:47
I think it could also be that sometimes if a driver feels handcuffed to do anything about a potential lag to his teammate, he feels the need to remind those watching that it isn’t his driving that’s the problem. Especially when they are now looking for employment. I like to think though that those inside F1 that will be important to his future would know and understand his circumstances. But perhaps he needs those outside F1 to know.