Sergio Perez has revealed his move to McLaren in 2013 saw him give up a seat at Ferrari the following year.
At the end of 2012, the Mexican was one of the hottest commodities on the grid after an excellent season with Sauber which had seen him claim three podiums, including a near-miss for victory in Malaysia.
Speculation had consistently linked Perez to Felipe Massa’s seat at Ferrari as he was then the top member of their young driver Academy but the Scuderia never pulled the trigger.
“I was going to get a [Ferrari] contract for 2014. I had to say one more year with Sauber and then get the ride with Ferrari,” he explained in Formula 1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“I went to Maranello and discussed with Domenicali, he told me ‘let’s do a pre-contract for 2014’.
“At that time Mercedes was interested, Ferrari was and McLaren so I was in a really strong position back then. I thought to myself ‘I need to get into a competitive car because I can win the title’.
“So the opportunity with McLaren came. They were winning races and fighting for titles for five years so how could you say no. It was an obvious thing.”
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However, Perez’s move would coincide with the start of the British team’s slump that they have yet to recover from.
“It didn’t work out because basically, McLaren was in quite bad shape,” he continued.
“We were the sixth fastest team that year so we didn’t even make it onto the podium. With the level of experience I had, I struggled to get the most out for the car.”
To make matters worse, Perez would be dropped after just a single year, ultimately finding refuge at Force India, where he has remained since.
“I had to say basically goodbye to the Ferrari academy when I went to McLaren,” he said.
“I think the mistake there was to sign a one-year deal. My management at the time didn’t do a solid job with the contract.
“That was a sad thing, I think that has damaged my reputation in Formula 1.”
In 2014, Massa would be replaced by a returning Kimi Raikkonen, who remained at Ferrari until the end of last season.