09/03/2017
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez claims Force India has found a number of "weaknesses" in its 2017 contender.
Despite putting another 100 laps on the clock on Wednesday, Perez' Barcelona lap count stands at 221 - 7 less than teammate Esteban Ocon, and less than half that of Valtteri Bottas. Furthermore, both Perez and his teammate are around 2s off the pace.
Seeking to defend fourth in the standings, its best ever finish, the Silverstone-based outfit has its work cut out this year, with Haas, Renault and Toro Rosso all looking to join Williams in the midfield battle.
However, the Mexican is not confident and admits that the team has discovered many weaknesses in the VJM10.
"I think today the team has found a lot of the weaknesses that we have with the car, which is quite critical," he told reporters.
"I think it's just a matter of time before we sort them out, because I think it is quite easy to sort those issues," he added. "Obviously the team is pushing very hard to try to get some upgrades for Australia, especially those upgrades which are probably easy to fix, but it just takes time. Hopefully we can fix most of them for Melbourne and, if not, by second or third race we should be at a good level."
Asked the inevitable question about where Force India stands in the 2017 rankings, he diplomatically replied: "We have a long season ahead of us and I'm very optimistic. As always it's not important where you are in testing in Barcelona, its where you end up in Abu Dhabi, the last race.
"I think tomorrow with Esteban, and obviously with me in the final day, we will have a lot of idea on where we stand."