John Watson on Sergio Perez...

[JimClarkFan]

I have put some quotes below.
Here is the article for anyone who missed it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22031593
Does anybody else think that some of these comments are unjust?

McLaren look like they've got one and a half drivers.

After 2 races he has came to this decision?

Signing Perez to replace Hamilton did raise a few eyebrows in the paddock. While I think most would say he's got a single fast lap in him, his race performances are less of a known quantity.

Isn't it the complete opposite, I always been of the opinion that Perez was relatively slow over one lap but had great race pace and strategy?

He had some great races last year but I'm not yet clear as to what level of information or value he brings the team.

Perhaps a fair comment, but can anyone rightly make this decision after 2 races?

Give Perez a really good car and he might shine but to me the ultimate driver is one who can drag performance out of an underperforming car. The jury is still out as to whether Perez has the potential to do that.

And Button can drag a good performance out of a dog? Because the suggestion here is that he can. There are perhaps only 2 or 3 drivers on the entire grid that can drive a rubbish car.



Very poor in my opinion.


Edit - At least whitmarsh thinks he is doing a good job, and that is all that matters
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 02436.html

[Lycoming]

He had some great races last year but I'm not yet clear as to what level of information or value he brings the team.

Perhaps a fair comment, but can anyone rightly make this decision after 2 races?

He's saying that it's not clear what perez brings to mclaren after two races. It makes perfect sense to decide this to be the case.

[raymondu999]

At least whitmarsh thinks he is doing a good job, and that is all that matters
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/form ... 02436.html

I'm not saying Whitmarsh is lying, I'm not saying he's being honest - but did you really expect him to say otherwise?

[Stradivarius]

I think some people may have over-estimated Perez last year. In a season where at least 7 teams were able to fight for race wins on occasion, because the tires were rather unpredictable, Sauber got it right a couple of times when several other teams got it wrong, and it seemed very impressive when Perez were challenging the top teams. But this was probably related to car setup, tires and strategy, and not to the driver. His strong results came in races where his strategy deviated from the opposition. Overall, Perez performed at the same level as Kamui Kobayashi, which in my opinion is decent, but not great.

I don't think that the single lap performance is very important anymore. It used to be, and a driver like Massa could do very well, simply because he was a great qualifier and the Bridgestone tires performed very consistently, so he was relatively safe in front. But today it is mostly down to race pace and making the tires last, as we saw in Australia.

[Nando]

And Watson´s weight just got very light after reading this,

While I think most would say he's got a single fast lap in him, his race performances are less of a known quantity.

Maybe we watched a different Perez in Sauber. For me i saw a guy who did the opposite and actually if there´s any obvious weakness it´s the one lap performance in which usually when the Sauber was genuinely competitive, Kobayashi always found himself 1 or 2 spots ahead on the grid.

[FoxHound]

Which speaks volumes of Kobayashi.
He also out-raced Perez in the second half of 2012(from memory). I wonder had Koba out performed Perez in the first half of 2012, would he be sitting in a McLaren? I doubt it very much.
But what a thought though, Kobayashi in a McLaren.

My personal view of the guy is that given a more stable tyre formula, he would be an even better performer. Perez seems to be a thinker, and Koba more a racer.
Maybe that is what McLaren wanted? All things being told so far, we cannot really deduce much from Perez at McLaren.
He is new to the team, different modus operandi, new tyre compounds and the car is struggling for pace.
For any driver coming in to a new team, this will be a monumental task. Criticism of Perez at this early stage is unjustified IMO.

[JimClarkFan]

@Lycoming
Yes, and I said that I felt it was a fair comment, but what can one genuinely expect to learn after two races especially driving a car this bad? It is not like he has been given the opportunity to demonstrate what he can bring, so why bring it up, it's a hollow point used to be cynical.

@Ray
You're right. I think in many ways he was going to say that, especially in a car that isn't up to much in the race. At the moment, nobody really expects anything of him because the car isn't so good, so he has not had a lot to prove, that will be different when the cars performance improves.

@Strad
Agreed.
I think Perez is good at car setup and thinking his way through a race, like Button. I was surprised to see Perez being picked for the Mclaren seat because I felt there were better options out the. For instance Hulkenburg was in many ways one of the stand out drivers last year, and he has a proven track record of being very very good at whatever he puts his hand to. I was disappointed to see him being past over.

@Nando
My thoughts exactly. When he said about Perez being a good one lapper I was wondering if he watched any of last seasons F1. Perez is not what I would call a one lap specialist, everything that I can remember last year points to him being a good racer.

[mnmracer]

Since when did John Watson join the club of old drivers with an opinion? Two news items from him now, and both are horribly unbalanced. Not that I perse disagree with everything he says, but it's just one-sided and unbalanced.

[JimClarkFan]

Since when did John Watson join the club of old drivers with an opinion? Two news items from him now, and both are horribly unbalanced. Not that I perse disagree with everything he says, but it's just one-sided and unbalanced.

I don't know either, he has gained attention recently.
Maybe he used to say this stuff all the time, maybe the media are only using it now to drive (pun intended) traffic to their sites.

[SamH123]

Perez has almost been matching Button in races so far and the qualifying sessions have been very mixed up for the whole grid.

Somewhat lazy article IMO

[Glyn]

Isn't it clear Perez was chosen because he brings money from the richest man in the world!

[Neno]

Isn't it clear Perez was chosen because he brings money from the richest man in the world!

perez sure have good financial background, but he is also solid driver. it's too bad that his financial background is
more worthy than his talent. in today f1 they are at least five better options for mclaren seat, or more talented then him, including kobayashi who because lack of financial money dont have seat.

realy mclaren become lowest possible team in f1, having pay driver in new meaning then others. perez maybe have normal salary and mclaren pay for her, but instead mclaren surely picked good and rich sponsorship option for maybe a decade.

[tathan]

Surely Kobayashi not being signed is a sign that the Honda rumours aren't true....

[astracrazy]

i think signing perez happens to be at the right time considering vodafone pulling out and who he is backed by - but lets see if that was the motivation for signing him

mclaren have less than what they did last season with perez, i think had hamilton still been in the team they'd of scored more than 4 points. the car might be poor but the driver is still worth a lot

i don't think perez is that good, not good enough to be fighting for championships. but lets see, we should give him at least half way this season to judge. we have to remember when this signing was announced mw talked about nurturing him etc. so i think they know they don't have a top driver yet either. I think he'll be a perfect number 2 to button, a heikki of 2008 and 09

[coaster]

He (jw) may have outspoken himself when comparing Perez to Jenson, I remember Jensons first 2 seasons filled with criticsm of his ability. Jenson toughed it out in a midfield team and finally made world champ.