09/04/2015
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez fears that late introduction of car is going to haunt Force India for the remainder of the season.
In recent years it has become the norm for Force India to start the year strongly and then gradually run out of steam as the season develops, even if sometimes this is due to outside influences such as tinkering with the rules or tyre compounds.
This year, following the late introduction of its 2015 contender, the Silverstone-based outfit is hoping that its low-key start to the season will see the team gather momentum over the course of the summer.
However, having already encountered problems which means the VJM08 wasn't introduced until the final pre-season test, plans to introduce an upgraded B-spec car have also run into problems with the new chassis not expected to appear until the Austrian Grand Prix, 8 races into a 19 race season.
While he and his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, have finished both races, scoring points in the season opener, this was more about the weaknesses of rival teams than the strength of the VJM08. With his, and the team's, hopes built on the B-spec car, Perez, knows that it must be a significant improvement.
"We're hoping to make a big step forward," he told reporters at Shanghai. "If we make that step then we can still have a good year as there will be plenty of races remaining, a lot of time to recover.
"But if we don't make the step we're hoping for then it's going to be a very painful year," he admitted.
"It is frustrating knowing we don't have a competitive car that can take us into the points on pure pace. It's really hard," he continued. "It is also really hard to keep motivated. Going into a race, knowing it is going to be very hard without any advantage, is not the easiest for a driver. At the moment, on pure pace, it is quite difficult to make it into the points. We're quite far from the teams ahead of us. We are in a position where it's very easy to make mistakes, to lose the car as it is very difficult with degradation and stuff.
"From now on we are going to have hard races, but it is what it is at the moment," he warned. "We have to be professional and do the job as if we are going to win the race. We're going to give 100 per cent and try to be there with whatever we have, to try to get into the points before we get the new package that can hopefully get us back into the points on pure pace."
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