in briEF - Mundo Motorizado

New approach no
hurdle for perez
Moving to a top team means Sergio Perez can’t rely
on alternative tyre strategies anymore, but his new
team believes he can adapt. By JONATHAN NOBLE
First duties for new
McLaren signing
McLaren does not expect Sergio
Perez to struggle to adapt to the
demands of racing at the front
of the grid, despite the Mexican’s
admission that he will need to
change his approach.
Perez began life as a McLaren driver
last week, conducting a whirlwind
series of media engagements before
knuckling down to engineering
meetings and simulator work at its
Woking base. And senior figures at
McLaren are hugely encouraged by
what they have seen of him so far.
Initial interaction with the staff
points to a young driver ready to
learn, but also willing to push on
with his own views.
McLaren sporting director Sam
Michael told AUTOSPORT: “‘Checo’
spent a lot of time over the week
learning about how we operate, but
also asking why we did things.
“Some things we do are obvious,
but there are other things that
McLaren have done that did not
8 autosport.com January 17 2013
Perez takes in the
McLaren history
make sense to him. It could be
because we made a mistake in the
past or we found a way of doing
something better.
“The ‘why’ part of his approach has
been hugely important. The smart
drivers ask why, and that is what he
has been doing. I like his confidence
and like the balance he has there.”
DIFFERENT LIFE AT THE FRONT
Perez’s reputation as a promising
youngster was sealed with three
podium finishes last year, all of which
were helped by lowly grid positions
giving him the opportunity to benefit
from an alternative tyre strategy.
Although he showed in Malaysia,
Canada and Italy that he had the
speed to race title contenders
wheel-to-wheel, he was especially
flattered at Montreal and Monza
by being on the right tyres for the
conditions when the top 10 on the
grid were effectively locked in to the
wrong choice by rules that demand
they start on the rubber with which
they qualified.
While such tyre-gambling
options are a no-brainer for a
midfield team such as Sauber, Perez
conceded that expectations at
McLaren are very different.
“The approach this year is
different,” he said. “At Sauber the
approach was to always try to
maximise the race potential, not
so much the qualifying. Here, the
target is to be in pole position and
win the race.”
McLaren has faith that the new
mindset Perez must have will not
be too difficult a transition for the
Mexican to handle.
“Ultimately in all teams, whether
you are at the front of the grid or
the back, you are fighting to go as
fast as you can,” said Michael. “But
if you are fighting for wins and the
championship, it does affect your
weekend plan – like tyres and the
set-up of the car.
“It culminates in qualifying
– where we expect to be in Q3 with
both drivers each time. That dictates
Q1 and Q2 tyre usage, which will be
different to what Checo was used to
at Sauber last year.”
When asked about whose
responsibility it was to handle
that change, Michael said: “It is an
engineering-led issue. We can guide