Perez wary of Haas threat to Force India in 2016

Force India driver Sergio Perez is positive about the team's prospects in 2016 but admits he's worried about the threat from the new Haas F1 Team.

The driver is looking ahead to even better results with Force India next year after the squad finished the current season in a strong fifth place in the constructors championship, well ahead of Lotus, Toro Rosso and Sauber although still someway behind Red Bull and Williams.

"We want to keep improving," Perez told Auto Motor Und Sport. "This is a huge task for a small team like us this.

"We must take major steps to get on the level of Williams or Red Bull, and I expect next year some of our opponents will also be better than this season - McLaren, for example, and Toro Rosso.

"And we must also not underestimate Haas F1. They're not really a new team. With their connection to Ferrari, they will be a challenge from the start."

Even so, Perez is nonetheless feeling optimistic about next season, with the team reportedly on the brink of a new era with the rumoured link-up with Aston Martin. Most of all Perez was pleased with how strong the team's development 2015 had been throughout despite the squad's relatively small budget, after what had been a very rocky start with the VJM08 in pre-season testing.

"The [initial] car was even worse than we had thought, but the team never gave up," Perez said. "We knew that in order to take our chances we had to compensate a lot with the strategy.

"Nico came seventh in Melbourne, I was tenth. That gave us courage. We were fifth [in the standings] even before the debut of the B-spec," he pointed out. "Even though Lotus had a better car than we did at that point.

"That we achieved this strengthened my confidence in the team, and it was then that I decided to stay with Force India."

The team finally introduced its heavily revised B-Spec car at the ninth race of the season at Silverstone, and Perez admitted that it had taken him a while to get used to it.

"I had trouble finding the right setup," he admitted. "We experimented a lot ... Then came my accident in Budapest. The turning point was the third practice in Spa: I'd had to change everything on the car, and suddenly it worked."

The 25-year-old finished the season with fifth place at Abu Dhabi meaning he closed out his campaign with a total of 78 points - his best result in five seasons in Formula One at Sauber, McLaren and now Force India.

With a podium finish in Sochi, it also means that he finished the season in ninth place in the driver standings, one ahead of his team mate Nico Hulkenberg who was a full 20 points further back. All of that helps give Perez a big boost in confidence moving forward into 2016.

"In 2012 I stood on the podium three times," he recalled. "That was special. On the other hand, I was much more constant this year than I was three years ago. And I'm a better driver than it was then."

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