Perez feeling Undervalued

Sergio Perez feels his performances last season were undervalued when compared to former Racing Point team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Mexican Perez finished eighth in the Drivers’ Championship last season, four places and 13 points ahead of Ocon, with the highlight of his campaign being his third-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

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Perez will once again drive for Racing Point, who were rebranded midway through the 2018 season after previously being known as Force India, during the new campaign, but his team-mate will be Lance Stroll, following Ocon’s departure to be a test driver with Mercedes.

Ocon did out qualify Perez in 16 of last season’s 21 races, but Perez is convinced his performances come race day more than made up for that and he feels his record during 2018 as a whole was undervalued.

“It’s like people just get used to me,” Perez told Motorsport.com. “When I was new here, everyone was talking about me and I was the next big thing, as Esteban is right now.

“I think results are clear. He (Ocon) was the better one in qualifying, although the margin was extremely small. “It is less than a tenth between us in qualifying. And I was the better one in the races. I got the most points and also the best results.”

Perez, who has claimed eight podium finishes during his F1 career, will be hoping to make a strong start to 2019, with the new season set to get underway with the Australian Grand Prix on March 17.