As was rumored, Mexican driver Sergio Perez will find a soft landing from his recent jettisoning from McLaren at Sahara Force India. Sergio, at 23-years-old, will not be saying goodbye to his Formula 1 career and will displace Scottish driver Paul di Resta. He will be joining his recently-signed teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the 2014 season.
The team said:
Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Sergio to the team. He brings a healthy mix of youth and experience, and I’ve been very impressed with his recent performances. He already has several podium finishes to his name and being chosen by McLaren last year was a clear indication that he is a driver to watch for the future. We also recognise Sergio’s incredible talent and we are proud to have him in our team. He clearly has great speed and plenty of fire in his belly. Our job is to make sure he settles in quickly by creating the right atmosphere so that he can realise his potential. By pairing Sergio alongside Nico, we enter the new season with an extremely competitive line-up, which will go toward helping us achieve our goals for the new season.”
Sergio Perez: “It’s great to announce my new team as Sahara Force India. Coming here was always my first choice and I’m really happy everything has now been confirmed. I want to say thank you to Vijay and the whole team for giving me the opportunity. This is a young team with a lot of determination and they’ve produced competitive cars for the last few years. It’s all change for next season with the new regulations, but I already have a good feeling about 2014. My plan now is to visit the factory and get to know everyone in the team.”
Good move or bad move? Are you happy to see Sergio get a ride or do you believe Paul deserved another year int eh seat? As always, money is the issue and I suspect Sergio’s backers had more than Paul’s but that’s just a hunch. Either way, Sergio will have a great teammate to test himself against in 2014.
