Perez: The title is always the target

Wednesday 9th January 2013

Perez: The title is always the target

Perez: The title is always the target

Sergio Perez has made his first appearance in front of the press at the McLaren Technology Centre, and described his move as a "dream come true".

With Lewis Hamilton heading to Mercedes, McLaren were quick to snap up the young and exciting Mexican from Sauber as his replacement.

After weeks of waiting, Perez finally paid a visit to his new team's headquarters at Woking on Wednesday, arriving in a £200,000 open-top MP4-12C.

The 22-year-old, who has been described as a rough diamond that needs to be polished by team principal Martin Whitmarsh, immediately set his sights on winning the World Championship.

"As soon as you walk through these doors, you see these great cars and there is so much history with this team that you immediately feel great. It's a dream come true to drive for this team," he told Sky Sports News.

"I'm here to give everything I can, to do my very best in every single race, inside and outside of the car, and to work with this great family at McLaren. When you come to McLaren, this [winning the World Championship] must be your target, otherwise you shouldn't join McLaren. Everybody here is working for that goal and I'm coming here to do the same."

Although his new team-mate Jenson Button has a lot more experience with many believing he will be the team's number one, McLaren have a long history of giving their drivers equal status.

Perez, though, is not yet concerned about his ranking within the team and hopes to not only learn from the 2009 World Champion, but also to beat him.

"Jenson is a very fast driver and one of the best in the world," he Perez. "It's a guarantee he will be fast and competitive. I will have to make my own space, but I think I will be able to work with Jenson. I've got a lot to learn from him but at the same time I want to beat him."

He added: "Being here at McLaren will help me improve in many areas.

"It will be much more intense than I have been used to. I think once the season starts will look again at where we can improve, but first of all we have to go to testing and Jenson and I will have to do everything we can to make sure we have a competitive car."

User comments

    Loading

      Post a comment

      Sunday's Pictures From Canada

      Editor's Picks

      Team-Mate Wars: Montreal

      Team-Mate Wars: Montreal

      Andrew Davies identifies the winners and losers in their respective teams from Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal...

      Winners & Losers: Canada

      Winners & Losers: Canada

      Vettel broke Red Bull's North American duck by scoring a dominant win - despite excursions, delays and diversions...

      The Forum Is Stepping Up

      The Forum Is Stepping Up

      So Seb's staying put but Webber may not be. Would you put a STR driver in his car? And which one? Let's chat...

      Montreal With Sure For Men

      Montreal With Sure For Men

      Lotus sponsor Sure For Men brings you a detailed pictorial timeline of the team's Canadian GP weekend...

      The PF1 Fantasy League

      The PF1 Fantasy League

      Join the PlanetF1 Fantasy League and go up against the crew at PF1 in our 2013 Friends and Enemies battle...