3116 replies to this topic

[Szoelloe]

I think that if McLaren focus on Jenson in the way that Red Bull focus on Vettel, he can deliver the same level of results.

My only worry is whether McLaren have fixed their reliability/strategy problems.

Mc is not the team to focus on one driver. If Button will be the lead driver, than it will be a natural order between him and Perez. They also are in the position to have 2 drivers with somewhat the same driving style. RB are not focusing on SV either. He pretty much looks to be that much better than MW.

[Dalton007]

I think that if McLaren focus on Jenson in the way that Red Bull focus on Vettel, he can deliver the same level of results.

My only worry is whether McLaren have fixed their reliability/strategy problems.

I think MAC might be changing the strategy, they will focus on Button and give him the car he wants. Perez doesn't have the same fitness level as Jenson or Lewis. A lot of work for Sergio.

[selespeed]

Perez doesn't have the same fitness level as Jenson or Lewis. A lot of work for Sergio.

chasing alonso all the way in malaysia...banging fastest laps in monza...really showed lack of fitness.

[BillBald]

Mc is not the team to focus on one driver. If Button will be the lead driver, than it will be a natural order between him and Perez. They also are in the position to have 2 drivers with somewhat the same driving style. RB are not focusing on SV either. He pretty much looks to be that much better than MW.

Well, Seb didn't look any better than MW, until he got the car to his liking.

I think McLaren have focused on one driver in the past, and they can do it again if they want to. Obviously Jenson won't keep the focus unless he justifies it through his results.

[BillBald]

chasing alonso all the way in malaysia...banging fastest laps in monza...really showed lack of fitness.

A wet race (lower g-forces), and a low-downforce race which lasts not much more than an hour, don't really test a driver's fitness.

[Clatter]

I think MAC might be changing the strategy, they will focus on Button and give him the car he wants. Perez doesn't have the same fitness level as Jenson or Lewis. A lot of work for Sergio.

Mac will try and build the fastest car that they can. They will no doubt use JB's feedback as the template considering that the car will be pretty close, if not past the final design stage, and SP will only just have joined and will be in a learning phase. I don't see this as focusing on one driver in the way some would like to put it. Both drivers will get equal treatment and opportunities.

[selespeed]

A wet race (lower g-forces), and a low-downforce race which lasts not much more than an hour, don't really test a driver's fitness.

fastest lap in monaco by over a second on lap 49?

[BillBald]

fastest lap in monaco by over a second on lap 49?

Everyone else was looking after tyres in a very long final stint, or stuck in traffic, or both.

Sergio had nothing to lose, he'd had a drive-through, he was quite simply on a different program.

[selespeed]

he was quite simply on a different fitness program.

[BillBald]

he was quite simply on a different fitness program.

Probably my fitness program (mince pies and cream), or so it seems.

[Dalton007]

chasing alonso all the way in malaysia...banging fastest laps in monza...really showed lack of fitness.

Well, you clearly haven't heard Whitmarsh's view on Perez's fitness level - it wasn't up to the Jenson and Lewis standard.

[Clatter]

Well, you clearly haven't heard Whitmarsh's view on Perez's fitness level - it wasn't up to the Jenson and Lewis standard.

I have and I don't recall him being worried about it, just that he will be fitter than he is now come the start of the 2013 season. I certainly don't see any evidence that lack of fitness has affected his performance.

[Dalton007]

I have and I don't recall him being worried about it, just that he will be fitter than he is now come the start of the 2013 season. I certainly don't see any evidence that lack of fitness has affected his performance.

I got the impression that Whitmarsh was a little disappointed with Perez's fitness. You don't say those things publicly if it wasn't a major issue.

[Clatter]

I got the impression that Whitmarsh was a little disappointed with Perez's fitness. You don't say those things publicly if it wasn't a major issue.

I rather think it was a throwaway comment of no consequence and your reading far too much into it.

[Buttoneer]

I have and I don't recall him being worried about it, just that he will be fitter than he is now come the start of the 2013 season. I certainly don't see any evidence that lack of fitness has affected his performance.

This is how I read the comment too.

[olliek88]

On the whole Perez fitness remark from Whitmarsh, i can't find any quotes from him or Mclaren that refers directly to his fitness, let alone it being a problem. I suspect it was started by Andrew Benson using a quote from Whitmarsh and taking it out of context (from the BBC website) http://www.bbc.co.uk...rmula1/20403485

Perez, 22, has recently conducted a fitness test to which McLaren submit all their drivers and it proved he is a long way short of the physical condition of Hamilton and his team-mate Jenson Button. Whitmarsh admitted in an interview with the official F1 website that Perez had a lot of preparation work to do before the start of the 2013 season in Australia in March next year. "I am not worried about him. We have the winter to prepare him," Whitmarsh said.

But when you refer to said interview ( http://www.formula1....2/11/14037.html ) Whitmarsh was replying to a series of questions about the pressure Perez will have to cope with, not his fitness levels.

Q: With Hamilton you banked on an inexperienced driver and hit the jackpot. Will the same happen with Sergio Perez? Do you have a passion for giving rather inexperienced drivers a chance?
WM: Yes, we do. Some of the greatest moments in my life I’ve had when working with Mika (Hakkinen) when he was young. And we won the world championship with Mika. And with Lewis, when he was young, so I am excited. It is a risk taking on a young driver. Bear in mind that when we took on Lewis he was the same age as Sergio is today and he was incredibly young, incredibly raw and incredibly talented. Now when Sergio gets to Australia in 2013 he will arrive with the kind of pressure that he can’t imagine right now. If you are a Ferrari or McLaren driver the scrutiny you are going to have is probably greater than a Red Bull driver and certainly more than Mercedes or any other team. At the first race, if he is not on the first two rows and fighting for a win the pressure will start to ramp. He doesn’t know that yet…

Q: But you yourself will also have to be prepared for the pressure, as it will also be the time to question your decision…
MW: Of course it will. I have the good fortune - or bad fortune - to be considerably older and I am used to such situations. (laughs) I have read my obituary a number of times and I can handle that, so I am not worried about me. I am also not worried about him. We have the winter to prepare him…

I think this might just be a case of a journalist using "creative freedom". Maybe there is some quotes out there in which Martin or someone from Mclaren does refer to Perez fitness but i am yet to come across it. Anyway, this is a bit OT from Jenson Button!

[Buttoneer]

In RC, the driver threads started with the Lewis Hamilton thread which was a discussion about a new up-and-coming driver who ought to make it into F1. Over a period of years the title of the thread was taken as a banner to discuss any and all aspects in which Lewis was involved, including lots of non-motorsport discussion, and it then spread to all other drivers who now have their own topic.

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