Sporting Director insists complainants have all made similar moves
Wednesday 5 June 2013 17:31, UK
McLaren Sporting Director Sam Michael has staunchly defended Sergio Perez in wake of the barrage of stinging criticism levelled at the Mexican from fellow drivers since the Monaco GP.
Coincidence or not, Perez has been noticeably more aggressive in his driving since being urged by his team boss Martin Whitmarsh to "get his elbows out" following a low-key start to his McLaren career in Australia and Malaysia. While acknowledging the 23-year-old went through a period of "transition" following his winter move from Sauber, Michael says the team's management have been pleased with how he has since taken the fight to elder stable-mate Jenson Button, support him and are happy for him to continue driving as he is. "His team-mate's got at least ten years more experience in Formula 1 than he does and he's a World Champion, so he's a hard guy to match, and Checo's doing well against him," Michael added. "I think he's a talented driver. The way that he's racing at the moment, McLaren support what he's doing from inside the company, and we're fully behind Checo as long as he just keeps developing. He definitely went through a transition but in the last two or three races he's been able to really mix it on pace with his team-mate, which is good. As long as he keeps going in that direction, that's all that matters to us. "Technically I think that he knows what he wants from the car and he's quite explicit about that with all the engineers and he's good for the level of experience that he's got."
