Sergio Perez believes Lawrence Stroll’s ambitions with Racing Point help him as much as Lance.
The Canadian billionaire is in the process of expanding operations at the Silverstone-based outfit, including a new £25m factory expansion set to be completed in the next two years.
Hopes are the fresh investment combined with new regulations in 2021 could return Racing Point to the days of Jordan, who would often mix it up at the front of the grid against the likes of Ferrari and McLaren.
“He [Lawrence] is very enthusiastic, he’s probably the most motivated person we have in the garage right now,” Perez said on Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“He’s pushing the team very, very hard, but at the same time he’s letting Otmar [Szafnauer, team principal] and the big boys do their job, but we are all aware that we have to give the results sooner rather than later.
“He loves racing, I’m surprised with his energy and how much he wants his team to be successful.”
At the same time, it isn’t lost on anyone that one of the main motivators is to provide Lance with a strong platform to race from.
“He obviously wants his son to be very successful, which is in my benefit as well because he’s definitely putting all the resources in place,” Perez claimed.
“Lance is just a normal guy, a normal driver. He works very hard, he’s also very talented and I have a very good relationship with him.
“We work well together and we try to push the team forward together. We’re all in the same boat and we all want to be successful here.”
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One of the points often raised is whether the Mexican will ultimately find himself playing second fiddle to Stroll because of his father being in charge.
But Perez insists there is no sign of that yet.
“No, I feel so much part of this team, of this family,” he said. “We are all in the same boat. We want to bring the team forward.
“We are not where we want to be at the moment. It’s about bringing the team forward and I don’t see that [favouristism] happening in my case, to be honest.
“Up to now, everything has been transparent, everything has been as before. We are all very excited and so much looking forward to this new project.”