Sergio Perez has released a dignified statement confirming he will leave McLaren at the end of the 2013 Formula 1 season:
Sergio Perez says goodbye to McLaren
First of all, I would like to thank McLaren for giving me the opportunity to be with them this season. It has been an honour for me to have been in one of the most competitive teams in the sport and I do not regret even a bit having joined them. I have always given the best of me for the team and still despite this I could not achieve what I aimed for in this historic team.
I am committed to delivering very good results in these last two races, especially in Austin. I am so much looking forward to see all my people gathered together, feel their energy and show them the best of me. I would like to say to every single one of my fans around the world and in my country that I am eternally grateful to them. They have never let me down, especially in difficult moments like these. I truly appreciate their support, they have never forgotten me.
I have met a lot of new people at McLaren and I have made many good friends as well. From the top management level to the marketing, accounting and engineering departments to the mechancics, the cooks, the catering people and basically everyone on the team, I am eternally grateful to them. It has been a learning experience to me.
I would like to wish the team the very best in the future. I will always be a fan of McLaren. In the meanwhile I will be looking at my future to ensure my position in the best possible package to fight for wins.
Thanks to McLaren and all of its partners for this season, you can rest assured that I will never give up.
It’s a harsh business F1 and despite results not matching expectations, for driver or team, it would seem as though Perez has not been given enough time to prove himself at McLaren.
Perez’s announcement paves the way for McLaren to officially announce 21-year-old Danish driver Kevin Magnussen as the driver who will race alongside Jenson Button in 2014. Expect that confirmation to come after this weekend’s race in Austin.
[Source: sergioperez.mx | Pic: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes]
3 replies on “Sergio Perez confirms McLaren departure”
Sad that Perez wasn’t given much time but it really hasn’t been a good year for McLaren.
Any thoughts on when Button will be retiring? I really like him but he really hasn’t shown anything too special in the last year or two unless it’s raining.
The current McLaren outfit is the most bloated, over-managed team in the history of motorsport. The hard-working Kiwi who started it all would be spinning in his grave at approximately the speed of a 2014-spec 1.6T engine if he saw what it turned into.
During the previous decade it seemed that McLaren were on a two year cycle – with one good year followed by one bad year as continued development late into the season left them too flat-footed on the next car and battling with second tier teams like Farce India and Sauber early in the next year. Now it seems they are becoming even less agile, looking more like every good year is followed by two or three bad years and the early season time in the second tier is getting longer each year.
[…] Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg performed well for Sauber coming home in P6 around four seconds ahead of Sergio Perez, who will be very happy to finish in the points and ahead of Jenson Button after being sacked by McLaren. […]