Button does not know if Pérez will be immediately competitive at McLaren

To compensate for Lewis Hamilton’s departure at the end of the season, the McLaren team has decided to recruit the young and promising Sergio Pérez to represent its colors starting in 2013. With three podiums and a solid reputation to his name, the Mexican has somewhat tarnished the latter by making several errors since his move to Woking was made official.

If the native of Guadalajara claims that his promotion at McLaren has not changed his approach to racing, it remains that while he aims to win the title as early as 2013, his future team seems to expect more of a learning season.

Thus, after Martin Whitmarsh, director of McLaren-Mercedes, suggested that Sergio Pérez had yet to fully understand the pressure he would face driving for the Woking team, it’s Jenson Button’s turn to temper the high expectations surrounding the Mexican driver: “It’s going to be a difficult seat for Checo [Sergio Pérez’s nickname, ed.],” Jenson Button states in *The Sun*. “Lewis is a guy who has won the world championship and has won and done many races with this team.”

The 2009 world champion is aware that expectations are high regarding his future teammate but believes that patience will likely be necessary: « Someone has to be in the car and he is fast. I’ve also been told that he is intelligent. I don’t know if he will be immediately ready. He will spend a lot of time in the UK, at the factory. We’ll see what happens. I have a feeling he will be competitive but, of course, he lacks experience. I don’t think he’ll be fighting at the front at the start of the next season, but we might have a surprise in the first race. »

Therefore, we will have to wait until next March to find out whether it will be Doctor Sergio or Mister Pérez at the wheel of the MP4-28.