Sergio Perez says Force India has done “an amazing job” across the first four fly-away races, especially after the Silverstone-based team had to delay the launch of its 2015-spec VJM08 until the final pre-season test.
The Mexican has already managed to score points twice this year despite Force India’s latest challenger theoretically lacking the outright pace to trouble the top ten on merit.
While Perez’ tenth-place finish had come after a scrappy race that also saw many cars retire, the 25-year-old delivered “one of (his) best” performances to snatch eighth at last month’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Added to team-mate Nico Hulkenberg’s strong P7 in Australia, his results mean Force India currently holds eighth position in the Constructors’ table, albeit only one point adrift of both Toro Rosso and Lotus.
“I think the first four races have been better than expected,” Perez told reporters at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which hosts its 25th Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
“When you look at our position right now, we’ve done an amazing job, the whole team. We’re only one point away from Lotus, 12 points from Red Bull. It’s been a pretty good effort considering where the car is.
“We’ve been lacking a lot of pace, so I think the efforts that have been done in the first four races have been pretty special.”
With Force India’s planned B-spec car not scheduled before mid-season, Perez braces himself for another challenging weekend in Spain but hopes his team can continue to overachieve.
“We’re going to have another race that’s similar to the first four. This one is going to be very difficult for us. Considering Barcelona and how the track is, you need a lot of downforce, which we’re lacking the most.
“I expect to have a difficult race, but not any more difficult than the other weekends. So yeah, I’m optimistic though it’s difficult when you don’t have any upgrades and other teams are bringing some. Let’s see what we can do.”
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