F1 News
Date: 20/September/2012
Sergio Perez claims there has been no contact from any major F1 teams regarding a 2013 drive.
Earlier this week, the 22-year-old Mexican found himself dragged into the ongoing ‘will he - won’t he’ speculation surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s future.
Reports suggested that Perez, who has taken three podiums for Sauber this season, had been approached by McLaren as a ‘Plan B’, should Hamilton join Mercedes.
It wasn’t the first time that Perez has been linked with a top 2013 drive, his name having long been associated with a possible promotion to Ferrari in place of Felipe Massa.
Faced with the rumours on the eve of this weekend’s Singapore F1 Grand Prix, Perez - who finished second last time out in Italy - responded:
“There are so many rumours. Before it was Ferrari, and now it's McLaren. Always, when I have a good race, they put me in a different team.”
Asked specifically if he had been approached by a ‘major team’, Perez gave a clear “no”.
The Perez-McLaren speculation emerged shortly after Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo appeared to extinguish any chance of Perez moving to the famous Italian team next season.
di Montezemolo had commented that Perez needed more experience. Perez politely disagreed: “It’s only my second year in Formula One, but I feel ready to be in a top team and to fight for the championship. But I fully respect his opinion.”
One sticking point in any McLaren move could potentially be Perez’s existing Ferrari links. Perez signed up to the Ferrari Driver Academy, an initiative aimed at helping promote young talent, in 2010.
Perez does not believe it would be a stumbling block: “I have a nice connection to Ferrari through the Ferrari Academy, but I am just part of the Academy, not part of the Ferrari team, so it should not affect [driving for other teams].”
Perez is ninth in the World Championship, currently led by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Singapore, round 14 of 20, is F1’s only night race.
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