Martin Whitmarsh tries to help Pérez stay in F1

In 2014, Sergio Pérez will no longer drive for the McLaren team, as he recently announced. The Mexican has been affected by the rise of Kevin Magnussen, a member of the British team’s young driver program.

If McLaren’s decision seems late and leaves little time for Pérez to find a new seat in F1, Martin Whitmarsh told Sky Sports F1 that this was not the case: « I’m trying to help him secure a seat. People say our decision was really late, but what I told him is to take a step back. I told him Ferrari seats were already chosen, the same for Mercedes, Red Bull, and Toro Rosso, and honestly, he was never in contention for any of those, so he hasn’t lost a seat. »

The Woking team’s director even contacted other teams – those with seats available, namely Lotus and Sahara Force India – to recommend hiring the Mexican driver: « At the time [of the decision], Williams had a seat, but that’s no longer the case, there is a spot at Lotus, one at Sauber, Force India, Caterham, and Marussia. So there’s no closed seat for him and we cannot be accused of making the decision too late. I called Force India and Lotus. They both do a good job and I recommended him because he deserves to be in Formula 1. »

Whitmarsh believes that Pérez has proven his worth, but with Magnussen’s emergence and his connections with McLaren, hiring him was the logical thing to do: « I would say that we saw great potential in Kevin and decided to recruit him. It wasn’t that Checo did things wrong. The only point that worked against Checo was the fact that Kevin is a driver. Kevin was a member of our program. If you go through the pit lane and talk to the insiders, they will say that Kevin is the most interesting young driver not in F1. I went around the paddock [to find a seat for Magnussen] and no one wanted him, so we chose him. »

We could have taken many other available drivers last season, experienced drivers, but we chose not to take those drivers and preferred Checo. That’s why I recommended him to other teams, because as I said, I think he deserves to be in F1. He’s an exciting driver to watch, he goes for it and I like watching him. When he was at Sauber I thought ‘That was good, let’s see what we can do with it’, but it didn’t work for us. I don’t regret it, I didn’t have Kevin last year – so it’s as simple as that, » added Whitmarsh.

Sergio Pérez estimated during the FIA press conference on Thursday that things were not going to be easy to continue in F1, but he remains confident and is also ready to look elsewhere if he doesn’t find the right fit: « It’s no secret: it’s very, very difficult nowadays [on the transfer market]. I know there are some options. As I’ve already said, I want to stay in Formula 1, but I won’t stay just to stay. If I don’t find the right option for me, then I’ll look elsewhere, but I’m quite confident that something good will come along, and hopefully I’ll have a good seat. I think I have a lot to offer a team. I’ve been in F1 for three years […]. I think I’m a good driver and I can do good things on the track. »