Breaking news

Formula 1

Perez: Stroll has stronger race pace than Ocon, Hulkenberg

Sergio Perez says Lance Stroll is already closer to him on race pace than any of his previous teammates, despite a relative lack of experience.

Ben Anderson

Edited: Mar 28, 2019, 3:16 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Lance Stroll, Racing Point, and Sergio Perez, Racing Point

Stroll enjoyed a strong debut for his new team in Australia, recovering from being knocked out in Q1 to score two points for ninth place, while Perez made Q3 but slipped to 13th in the race.

Stroll showed stronger pace than Perez after the pitstops and the Mexican, who has shown himself to be particularly masterful at managing F1's delicate Pirelli tyres over race distances for several seasons now, says he's been surprised by Stroll's immediate strength in this area compared to previous teammates Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg.

"In a way Esteban and Nico were quite a similar approach and they always seemed to struggle a lot with race pace," Perez said.

"But with Lance, his race pace is, from all the teammates, the closest to mine.

"He's already, on Sundays, quite good. I was quite surprised because going for a long run I seemed to find it a bit easier with my previous teammates, but it's not the case now.

"He [Stroll] has a good understanding for Sundays. It's good, it's what you need to score points, especially with this tight midfield."

Perez reckons the impression Stroll has made on him so far highlights how difficult it is to judge the performance of a driver in a difficult car, following Stroll's mixed first two seasons in F1 with Williams.

"The surprise was already when we met Lance to see the speed – it just proves that it's so hard to judge someone," Perez added.

"It's so much related to your car performance in F1.

"He has the speed, the talent. He works hard. I think he's going to be constantly scoring points, which is great for the team.

"To finish fourth in the constructors you need both cars to score points every weekend.

"He got the maximum out of the car, together with the team and strategy [in Australia]. It's what we need from now to Abu Dhabi."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Sainz forced to take second MGU-K after Melbourne failure

Next article Ricciardo gets new Renault chassis for Bahrain GP

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

1 h

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

2 h

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

8 h

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Feature

Discover prime content

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Laurent Mekies under the microscope: How different is his leadership at Red Bull from Christian Horner?

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Formula 1

By Filip Cleeren

Rwanda turns to F1 as it moves forward from a chequered past

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

By Autosport

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts