Force India's Sergio Perez thinks securing “spectacular” results in midfield machinery is more likely to help him land another top team drive than consistency.
The Mexican made his F1 debut in 2011 with Sauber, where he spent a couple of seasons. Although he and team-mate Kamui Kobayashi were evenly-matched, it was Perez’ three podium finishes that earned him a McLaren seat for 2013.
Having found refuge at Force India after his one-year Woking spell, Perez has generally been outscored by the highly rated Nico Hulkenberg but clinched the team’s second career podium at Bahrain last year.
Speaking exclusively to F1i, Perez feels standout performances open more opportunities to fulfil “his dream” of returning to a front-running squad.
“Well I think it depends what you’re fighting for,” he said. “Sometimes it’s really good. Thanks to those spectacular races I’ve got four podiums in Formula One with cars that haven’t been capable of being there otherwise. So it really depends on the way you look at things.
“Obviously when you do these kind of results people look at you and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to prove I’m worth the bet.”
If 2014 turned out to be Force India’s best campaign in F1, this year has proved a bit more challenging due to the late launch of the 2015-spec VJM08 followed by the delayed introduction of its B-spec evolution.
Meanwhile, Perez has had his typical headline results with a strong eighth at Sakhir and an impressive P7 in Monaco. But the Mexican admits he now needs to unlock more consistency to re-establish himself firmly as a hot property on the F1 radar.
“I feel very welcome at the team, very happy and really at home. I’m enjoying working with them; I think we’ve improved. Last year we had the best year in the history of the team. Right now we’ve had a tough start to the year but when we look back it’s amazing what we’ve scored up until now.
“The last few races for myself haven’t been spectacular but I’m sure I will improve. We know fully the reasons for those difficult weekends so definitely I see plenty of positives coming up for the rest of the year.”
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