Perez: New contract, new era, new level for Force India

Sergio Perez has hailed Force India’s new investors and owners as the next era for the team which he’s eager to lead having confirmed he’ll stick with the Formula 1 squad in 2019.

Despite hinting his future would be confirmed at his home race in Mexico next week, Perez’s 2019 deal was officially announced by Force India today ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

Perez: New contract, new era, new level for Force India

Sergio Perez has hailed Force India’s new investors and owners as the next era for the team which he’s eager to lead having confirmed he’ll stick with the Formula 1 squad in 2019.

Despite hinting his future would be confirmed at his home race in Mexico next week, Perez’s 2019 deal was officially announced by Force India today ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

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After an extremely turbulent few months for the Silverstone-based squad, having dropped into administration over the summer before being taken over by Lawrence Stroll-led consortium, Perez was convinced staying at Force India was his best option as the team targets ‘a new level’ with its fresh investment.

“I think the level of investment, where the team is going to start next season, the development rate, we have big expectations,” Perez said at the Circuit of the Americas.

“We have to deliver to a new level, I hope we can make the next step, I would be happy to do that. Since I joined the team, we made good progress in the last couple of years.”

Perez says the new investment combined with his faith in the senior management gives the team the key tools to reach its targets throughout an entire F1 campaign rather than struggling at the start.

Due to the team’s limitations on budget and development in previous seasons, Force India has traditionally been slow starters before climbing up the order when extracting more performance from its car.

“[The investment] is going to make a big difference where the team will start,” he said. “We generally have a good package but it comes really late in the season, we should be having a strong baseline from race one onwards, and that should make a big difference.

“The reason I believe this team will be strong because it’s not like there’s just going to be more money involved, there’s going to be a guidance, I think with Otmar [Szafnauer, Force India chief executive officer and team principal] and Andy [Stevenson , sporting director] they have that guidance in place.

“The team has been so limited for so many years, now we have maximised the resources. Now that we will have more resources, we should have the right guidance and should be really strong.”

While Perez remained tight-lipped when pushed on the length of his new F1 contract it is believed to remain a one-year agreement as per his previous deals. 2019 will mark Perez’s sixth consecutive season with Force India since joining from McLaren in 2014.

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