Perez “desperate” to begin McLaren career with win

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In the round-up: Sergio Perez says he’s “desperate to get a win” ahead of his first race for McLaren.

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Sergio Perez ‘desperate’ for debut F1 win in first McLaren season (The Guardian)

“As a Formula One driver you dream about winning your first race, you dream about it all your life. I have no idea what it feels like. But I have to be honest, I am desperate to know. I have not won a race yet in my career and I am desperate to get a win.”

Webber determined to keep ‘vultures’ away from seat (Reuters)

“The vultures have been on the branches for the last three of four years, that’s just the way it is. But there will be a day where I stop.”

Vettel Mit “Hungry Heidi” auf Titeljagd (Bild)

Sebastian Vettel has dubbed his Red Bull “Hungry Heidi” according to Bild.

Chilton: Nervous about debut (Sky)

“Usually in a category you have raced in it is fine, but this is my first F1 race and I think it would be weird if I didn’t have nerves. You need nerves sometimes to egg yourself on so I will be there and enjoy every moment of it and give it my best.”

Mercedes: tyre management better now (Autosport)

Bob Bell: “Although it didn’t show it on track last year – and you could spend a day debating why that was – we did get a lot of understanding during the course of last year with the tyres and what was needed to do to manage them.”

Mallya says Force India can repeat best-ever result (NBC)

“Adrian and Paul make up the driver pairing that brought us to our best-ever championship result in 2011 and there is no reason why we can’t have a similar result this year.”

Ferrari F138 – bodied driveshaft (F1)

“The bodied driveshaft is another F1 trend set by Red Bull’s Adrian Newey in 2012 and followed by all the top teams – including Ferrari – for 2013.”

British Grand Prix third most expensive F1 race on the calendar (BBC)

“The 2013 season starts on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia – where the cheapest race day ticket costs 66 compared to 145 for Silverstone.”

The Racers’ Edge – Australian Grand Prix preview (Peter Windsor via YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyMx3EwRSFU

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Comment of the day

An interesting response to yesterday’s comment of the day from Tyler:

Jaime Alguersuari’s dumping was harsh, but there’s no such thing as a nice end when the team shows you the door. Just ask Kobayashi or Glock, to think of a couple of examples.

Either you think Alguersuari didn’t have the talent to progress to a better team, in which case it’s hard to argue with Toro Rosso’s decision. Or you think he did have the talent, in which case the obvious question is, why hasn’t another team signed him?

Alguersuari is a 22-year-old with a good chunk of F1 experience, as well as a stint as Pirelli’s test driver. Alonso, Hulkenberg and Grosjean have all shown that spending time out of racing F1 doesn’t have to mark the end of your career. If he gets another chance, it will be because Red Bull helped him get to F1 in the first place.

Ask any up-and-coming teenage driver if they’d like a works supported climb up the junior formula ladder, and two and a half seasons in F1, at not cost, and you’d be run over in the stampede.

At a time when everyone complains about the number of pay drivers, the fact that there’s a team willing to spend money on developing talented drivers is cause for praise, not criticism. Sure a lot of drivers will get ejected along the way, but since there will only ever be one or two seats available at the pinnacle, that’s inevitable. Most will still be much better off for the chance.
Tyler (@tdog)

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On this day in F1

Alain Prost survived a late rain storm to win his first race for Willians on this day 20 years ago in South Africa.

Read more about the race here:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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53 comments on “Perez “desperate” to begin McLaren career with win”

  1. I’d be very surprised if he does end up winning. I have no idea why, but I predict his McLaren stint to be somewhat like Kovalainen’s… not quite the level everyone was hoping to be on. Let’s wait and see.

    1. I predict his first win will be in Monaco, his always been quick there but had bad luck in past two years.

      1. well, Monaco largely depends on qualifying, and Perez has yet to prove that he is fast on a 1 lap flyer!

        1. @blackmamba I’d argue that he’s good around Monaco on single-lap pace.. He was in Q3 last year when he crashed, so obviously had good qualy speed, and last year McLaren went to great pains in pointing out that he scored the fastest lap around Monaco. I think Perez has the potential to win around Monaco, but as with every other driver, the Monaco GP is on such a knife-edge that no-one can really claim it until it’s over…

          1. @keeleyobsessed
            I was not disputing that he is good in Monaco, but rather is he good enough to beat his team-mate to pole, let alone Alonso, Webber and Vettel not to mention the Lotuses and the Mercs. He would have to qualify very well indeed if he is to get a sniff at a win, but if he can get in front it is entirely possible coz then it does not really matter who has the better car or is the better driver coz it is very difficult to pass.

          2. @blackmamba

            I was not disputing that he is good in Monaco, but rather is he good enough to beat his team-mate to pole

            Its not that hard to beat Jenson to a pole position. Heck he had only one over the past 3 seasons

    2. Surprised? so McLaren picked him over all the other available good drivers just because he got 2 second places out of luck huh? Well, I don’t get why a bunch of people underestimate Perez, for sure he will win some races and why not? The championship.

      1. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
        14th March 2013, 5:13

        “McLaren picked him over all the other available good drivers just because he got 2 second places out of luck” – yes. Because after that pick-up) “watch F1 statistic on the last 6 races”. I don’t underestimate him. These commentaries of his is kinda “Much ado about nothing”. He proved that he can get a result. But he is ridiculously unstable. I was rather bemused by his childish mistakes in Japan/Abu Dhabi, for instance. Now I see him talking a lot of nonsense. I mean it: non-sense of heaps of his remarks as he is yet to prove anything. I’m pretty sure he will not win the WDC because there at the very least 3 pilots who are professionals and will finish in front of Perez.

        1. But he is ridiculously unstable. I was rather bemused by his childish mistakes in Japan/Abu Dhabi, for instance.

          I also remember Alonso making a lot of childish mistakes in 2003, including the infamous Interlagos crash with Webber. Likewise, Vettel too made some very silly errors in 2008. Hell, he crashed out in all of the first four races on the opening lap. It’s not as if they went on to become multiple time champions.

          Oh, wait…

          1. My response was to @ibis BTW.

          2. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
            14th March 2013, 7:35

            You are mistaken in comparing them. As I know 2003 was first ever season for Fernando in F1. Last season wasn’t the first for Perez. And yet, right after he signed a contract with a top-team he loses his attitude to racing. To me everything is obvious: Perez isn’t ready for this challenge.
            About driver’s mistakes: I don’t remember Nando not finishing in 6 races in a row. Same about Vettel, or Kimi, or even Ham. A lot of Alonso’s mistakes – please, name them, ’cause I watched 2003 season and don’t recall Alonso causing a collision from time to time through season.
            Three pilots I mentioned are Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen. We can include Webber and Button also (so, now these five pilots).
            So, how we can see Perez fighting for a WDC with them? Is this a joke?

          3. @ibis Alonso’s first season was 2001, not 2003.

          4. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
            14th March 2013, 13:14

            TomMK: that is true. But I mean 2003 was first season for Fernando with a winning car. Car that can win 2012 – same for Perez.

  2. Every faith in you, Checo!

    Fantastic COTD, the RBR driver programme can be loathed in the way it does things around these parts *hand up guilty* but it’s often overlooked in all the respects @tdog mentions. And Hungry Heidi…that’s possibly my favourite yet! Ahaha!

    1. Hungry? Yeah right!
      They probably felt that the obvious alternative sounded too much like their teamboss’ last name…

      1. LOL ….horny ? ….LOL …double LOL

  3. Here’s a rather amusing season “preview” by Sniff Petrol. Classic comedy:
    http://sniffpetrol.com/2013-formula-1-preview/

    1. @codesurge

      Haha, excellent! I recommend everyone read this link!

    2. wow they really ripped into people there. not bad, however they are way out of line for crapping on my dear infiniti.

    3. Very funny, even if some parts aren’t really factual, or well anywhere near reality and I’m not talking about “FI dummy laptops”.

    4. Thanks for that, although I’m up late with a cold and almost coughed up a lung at a few of the lines (especially Grosjean resembling a rural simpleton and the line about Ricciardo never stopping smiling)!

    5. love the williams logo! :))

    6. Sviatoslav Andrushko (@)
      14th March 2013, 5:25

      Thank you very much:-)

    7. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      14th March 2013, 5:53

      Laughed so hard at the Marussia section:
      “… ,by arriving in F1 with his own nickname; ‘The Wallet’.

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

    8. I laughed at the bit about Ferrari in the Williams summary. Very funny!

    9. Giedo van der Garde of the Netherlands who was hoping to copy Jos ‘The Boss’ Verstappen by using a nickname that rhymed with his first name but has run through the options and thought better of it.

      Genius.

    10. Vodafone McLaren Vodafone Mercedes Vodafone

      Now, that is ironic

    11. “Button is said to be delighted that Sergio Perez has replaced Lewis Hamilton and his delight can be summed up in just one word; ‘beatable’.”

      I may sound a bit nasty but I LOLed at that

    12. Familiar driver Pastor Maldonado is talented and, as he proved in Spain last year, capable of winning. Unfortunately, at many races he is beaten to the car by his evil, accident-prone twin Bastor Maldonado who is ****.

      That. Is. Genius. :D

  4. When Perez said:

    “I have not won a race yet in my career and I am desperate to get a win.”

    I assume he’s just talking about winning in F1? I hope he’s won races in the junior categories!?

    1. It’s obvious isn’t it, even Chilton who hasn’t won a championship has won races before.

      1. Yeah I guess..

        I was just wondering if someone was a good driver, always came second or third in races in the junior series and subsequently second or third in the championships, but never won, if they could ever be considered for an F1 seat??

        I guess with enough money it would be possible these days..

    2. I’ve just checked Perez racing record on wikipedia and he has won quite a few races, the British F3 championship and came second in the 2010 GP2 season.

  5. A lot people seem to rate Perez’s prospects fairly low, mostly I think based on the dip in his form last season, but I think he will do very, very well against Button and I would not be surprised if he outqualifies him on Saturday.

    And as for Vettel’s car names, I find them totally cheesy and tacky, but then again he’s a bit of a cheesy guy.

    1. I don’t think we are rating him lowly. It’s just he is still relatively new to F1 and we don’t know how to judge him. He has shown flashes of speed before, but he has yet to be paired with a known good driver like Button until now. So all the opinion we have on Perez is based on his performance against “second-tier” drivers.

      Plus, personally I don’t want to have too much expectation on him just in case his stint in McLaren ends like Kovalainen.

  6. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
    14th March 2013, 2:56

    It is highly unlikely that he will win any time in the whole season – let alone winning the first race. He has never impressed me, I don’t expect he will. Some podiums, at best.

  7. I always believed that Mercedes understood the tyres the problem is that there’s only so much you can do when you had entered 2012 testing without sampling the 2012 “rubber”.

  8. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    14th March 2013, 3:39

    I think people are too quick to right off Perez.

    Mclaren wouldn’t have signed him if they thought he couldn’t get the job done.

    He’s a very talented driver (he still needs to work on his qualifying ability), and Mclaren have produced race winning cars for several years now (2012 was a championship winning car).

    I dont think he’ll win in his debut, but rest a sure, Sergio Perez will win at least one race this year.

    1. The Next Pope
      14th March 2013, 5:08

      Yes he’s in a McLaren now, he’s ought to win at least one.
      With Perez, people expect him to turn out as another Kovalainen or another Lewis, there’s no middle ground.. fail big time or impress big time, that’s all.

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        14th March 2013, 5:32

        I disagree, I think he’ll have a steady career at Mclaren. He won’t have a brilliant career, but he won’t be a failure either.

  9. The BBC also announced today that Lewis Hamilton will be doing a weekly column for them @keithcollantine

  10. Wise words from Luciano in that tweet!

  11. Strange, in spite of the arrival of ‘Tell-Mex’ Perez and Vodafone saying they were evaluating their sponsorship, it still feels as a surprise that Vodafone is leaving. Probably has to do with familiarity.

    1. No, its because Vodafone decided last year to pull back out of ALL sports sponsorships and take a new approach sponsoring local events closer to their customers (its mentioned in the FT article that led McLaren to come out with the news)

    2. Maybe they are concerned about falling viewer numbers.

  12. Good to hear a driver is really hungry for wins, I would say. All the better racing for it, would be nice to see him put it on pole, than drop back to 5th in the first stint only to come back to the front in the closing laps.

    But what is the really interesting part of that interview to me is what he says about Button:

    “And this I find very interesting because I was not expecting a champion like him, with all the experience he has, to ask me any questions. But that is why he has had so much success throughout his career.

    “His strong point is that he is a very intelligent driver who can always cope very well with difficult conditions and strategy calls.”

    I guess it might be one of the things that Button got mastered. To learn as much as he can from a fresh perspective on the car by asking his new team mate. Also it helps bond the team together off course.

  13. What is so wrong in trying to have an emotional connection to your car and have some fun with your mechanics while deciding on the name? People keep asking what will be your new car’s name and then complain he’s cheesy, childish. He doesn’t christen his cars for fans. It’s just a little innocuous tradition between him, his car and his crew.

  14. Interesting soundbites from an interview with FI’s Bob Fernley:

    Still referring to CVC, Fernley continued: “You need to have an investor who gets a good return but one that also has an interest” in Formula 1. CVC has milked it and anyone investing in it should be looking very closely at what they’re getting.”

    Hm,

    1. @bascb, stop it, you’ll upset @prisoner-monkeys.

      1. Let him take it up with Fernley!

  15. Sebastian Vettel has dubbed his Red Bull “Hungry Heidi”

    Fetching name! I think “Kate’s dirty sister” still holds top spot on the naming front though!

  16. Not sure what to make of this article about Di Resta and his cracked car

    that cost him a £5m pay-deal

    On the one hand he says 3 times that he does not dwell on these kind of things, but other than that the whole piece feels as a bit of a “I was doing great if not for the cracked car” being used as an excuse for why he was passed over when Hulk and Perez got new jobs.

    In the article its stated like this

    The Scot does not dwell on it, saying: “We were even down on straight line speed for three Grands Prix and, after changing various different components, the last thing we changed was the monocoque in Abu Dhabi.

    “It was like flicking a switch and we were back.”

    He finished the race ninth and his team-mate was unclassified, but Hamilton’s decision to sign for Mercedes triggered a chain of events that saw Hulkenberg signed by Sauber just four days before Di Resta was back in the game.

    So ok, he was back on it in Abu Dhabi and finished in the points. But did he crack his car again afterwards? Because in the next 2 races he fell back to finishing 15th and crashed out respectively, while his team mate finished 8th and almost won that last race.

  17. To honour the V8s going into their last season, Racecar Engineering has a very nice piece going over all of the F1 V8 engines. A really nice read for in between sessions :-)

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