09/01/2013
NEWS STORY
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Sergio Perez has visited McLaren's Woking HQ for an informal meeting with the media, the Mexican youngster appearing in the team's colours for the first time since his move from Sauber.
The Mexican, who replaces Lewis Hamilton, arrived for the meeting in an orange MP4-12C, telling the assemble media that driving for the Woking outfit is "a dream come true".
With the seemingly never ending trophy cabinet as a backdrop and surrounded by the cars driven to championship success by the likes of Senna, Rosberg, Lauda, Prost and Hamilton, Perez seemed totally unphased.
"As soon as you walk in through this door you see these great names, these great cars," said the youngster. "There is so much history in this team that it makes you feel great. This is a dream come true for myself to be able to drive for such a team."
While some might scoff at his claim that he can win the title in his debut season with the multi-champions, Perez was eager to reiterate his belief.
"When you come to McLaren this has to be your target," he said. "Otherwise you should not join McLaren because here everybody is working for that goal. So I am coming here to do the same, to work for that goal.
"It's difficult to set a target from the start of the season. To tell you that I will be on pole in Melbourne will be very difficult for me to know.
"First of all we have to go through testing to try to do the maximum we can, Jenson and myself, to have a very competitive car and then I think we can do a very good job in Melbourne.
Asked how about how he feels stepping into Hamilton's shoes, the youngster admitted: "They are very big, he's one of the best drivers in the world so it's never easy to fill one of those shoes.
"So I'm here to bring everything I can, to give my very best every single race, inside and outside the car," he added, a reference to the promotional duties he will be expected to carry out, duties that weren't popular with his predecessor, "and to work together with this great family that is McLaren."
While impressive in his first season with Sauber, and again in the first half of 2012, Perez failed to score a single point with the Swiss team in the final six races of the year. However, he clearly feels that at McLaren he will have the necessary resources not only to get back in the groove but to improve as a driver.
"I think here McLaren helps you improve in many areas," he said. "The preparation here is more intense than what I was used to so this automatically with work will improve and I think once the season starts we will start to know where we have to improve."
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