F1: Perez Makes His Mark With Brilliant Second

Formula 1

F1: Perez Makes His Mark With Brilliant Second

Mexican driver confirms he will stay on with Sauber in 2012...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 25, 2012 Sepang (MAS)

Sergio Perez’s brilliant run to second in Malaysia marked him out as a future star – and made a future graduation to Ferrari even more likely than it was previously.

A combination of good strategy calls and brilliant driving from the Mexican got him into second place and in a position to challenge Fernando Alonso for the win, but in the end a late call for slicks and then a brief off track excursion both cost him valuable time, and twice he lost the ground he’d made up.

“I think the win today was really possible,” said Perez. “Obviously the team did very good work to call me in at the right times. We lost one lap just at the end to Fernando on the dry tires, so we lost about two seconds, and then my pit stop didn’t go so well with the clutch. And then I managed to catch him, lap by lap.

“Towards the end I had some understeer into a left-hand corner, the quick one, and I ran wide enough to go into the wet, and then I just lost control of the car and went straight and lost the fight for the victory. But even though, I think it’s been a great effort for the team. They called me at the right times. The conditions were very difficult to keep the car on the track and they have been incredible.

“They were quite focused as well, so they always called me at the right time, which was crucial here and obviously we had a great pace. In my second stint, when we changed to intermediates, we changed a bit late and Fernando was already with warm tires, so it took me some laps to warm up tires and at that point it was very difficult to get Fernando, but towards the end of the stint I was very close to him.

“So again he pitted and he pulled away, he pitted on the right lap and it took me a few laps to catch him. When I caught him I knew it would have to be quick to overtake him because I was having a lot of degradation in my front tires, especially going behind him. So I went looking for the way to get him and then I just ran a bit wide and touched the wet kerb – I was lucky not to go off. In the end, second it’s a great result for the team. Many points and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. It’s only the second race of the season and hopefully we can keep improving our car to fight the big guys.”

Perez insisted that he was not disappointed to lose a shot at the win, and denied that a radio call from Sauber telling him how important it was to retain the result was a distraction.

“Obviously the team was worried. Obviously for us, second place means a lot so they were quite worried, I was going quite fast in difficult conditions. To keep the car on the track during the early stages of the race was quite a challenge, so we did quite well. It was a long race for the team, and I fully understand them. But no, it was not a distraction at all. I think they wanted the points as much as I did. I wanted the win because I saw it was possible. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, but I’m still very happy and very proud of this second place.

“I knew that the car had the potential to fight in these kind of conditions because we were not so far off, so in this type of condition, maybe the driver can make a little bit more difference and if you get the right conditions and you make the right calls then you can be up there fighting as we were today. The victory was quite close, but I think all in all, it’s a great day for me.”

He played down the inevitable suggestions that he’s in line for a Ferrari seat sooner rather than later.

“My full commitment is with my team, with Sauber F1 team. It’s only the second race of the season and there’s still a long way to go so we have to keep improving, especially because we are a small team, so for us, it’s getting closer to development, the others can improve more so it’s important we remain focused. Obviously it’s only rumors but no, I will stay with Sauber for the whole season.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.