Sergio Perez Talks Tough About McLaren, Says Joining Them “damaged my career!”

Published 04/18/2019, 5:57 AM EDT

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Sergio Perez seems to be doing pretty okay in the SportPesa Racing Point F1 team. Even as he hasn’t managed to break into the top ten in all three Grands Prix, that he’s scored most of his team’s points thus far makes him a valuable hand at a team he aims to score a lot in the coming races.

At the recently concluded 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, Sergio Perez managed a fighting eighth ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen.

And in so doing, Sergio Perez managed to finish ahead of his teammate, Lance Stroll for the third consecutive occasion in as many races.

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But that said, the talented Mexican driver, who’s scored 8 podiums so far, doesn’t seem to be too elated when it comes to sharing his piece of mind on one of his former teams. Wondering what that is?

Back in 2013, Sergio Perez, then, merely 23-year-old drove alongside Jenson Button at McLaren-Mercedes. In that season of the pre-hybrid era of Formula 1, Sergio Perez managed to score only scored 49 points and therefore, stood eleventh on the Drivers Standing. While there weren’t any podiums scored by ‘Checko’, he did manage to set 1 fastest lap in the season.

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But that said, not everything seems to have gone ideal for the Mexican driver.

In a recent discussion Sergio Perez confirmed that had all gone well, he may have joined Ferrari, following discussions with Stefano Domenicali. The talks for the same had taken place in 2012. This was the time when the Mexican driver was still in the academy. But instead, he opted to go to McLaren-Mercedes following Lewis Hamilton’s departure from the legendary racing outfit.

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Moreover, there’s something rather interesting that one of the most talented drivers on the grid had to share regarding his McLaren experience:

“I think probably given how McLaren was at that time that ride came just at the wrong moment for me. Because if you go back to 2012 I was a Ferrari member, I was going to get a contract for 2014, I had to say one more year with Sauber and then get the rise with Ferrari,” Perez said.

After struggling for a year at McLaren, he would find himself dropped.

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Surely, that must not have been a joyride- right?

But could it be that that happens to be the reason why Sergio Perez hasn’t had the greatest of times at McLaren. At present, the side is in the hands of Lando Norris, driving in his rookie season and Carlos Sainz Jr.

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Written by:

Dev Tyagi

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