Force India confirmed that Sergio Perez will continue racing with the team in 2018. The contract extension sees Sahara Force India field an unchanged driver line-up in 2018 with Sergio racing alongside Esteban Ocon.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director:
“Sergio has played an important role in our success story over the last few years. Since joining us in 2014, he has matured to become one of the quickest and most consistent drivers on the grid. His track record speaks for itself as the most successful Force India driver ever with four podiums. Alongside Esteban, retaining Sergio gives us stability going into next season and one of the most exciting driver pairings in Formula One.”
BREAKING: Sahara Force India is delighted to confirm that @SChecoPerez will continue racing with the team in 2018. Vamos por más! #SFIFamily pic.twitter.com/lTSWo2Auaa
— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) September 17, 2017
Sergio Perez:
“Staying with Sahara Force India was always my priority. It’s a team that has allowed me to show my talents as a driver and I feel very happy here. I’m proud of everything we have already achieved together and I think there is more to come. The team has done an amazing job this year to develop the car and establish our position as the fourth best team in Formula One. In the end it was an easy decision to continue our journey together.”
I’m very happy to announce that I’ll continue driving for @ForceIndiaF1 in 2018! Let’s go for more success! ???https://t.co/gGq8i1z4VH pic.twitter.com/sHmjdD01rD
— Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) September 17, 2017
The 27-year-old Mexican driver was a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012
He debuted in Formula 1 in 2011 with Sauber. Perez took his first podium with the Swiss team at the Malaysian Grand prix in 2012. He joined McLaren for 2013 but after a bad year with the British team left Woking. In December 2013 Perez managed to conclude a deal with Force India and is racing with the Silverstone team ever since.
The announcement was made hours before the Singapore Grand prix. Perez will start from 12th position, while Ocon is 14th. Force India did not have the best qualifying on the street circuit.
“It was a difficult qualifying session”, Sergio Perez admitted.
“All the way up to my final run in Q2 I was struggling with the front end of the car. We made some changes which helped the front, but I lost rear grip instead. I’m not really sure what went wrong so we need to look into the data to really understand why we didn’t deliver. It’s going to be a long and tough race, and we need to be patient. We are only a couple of positions away from the top ten so we will fight for as many points as possible.”
