McLaren need to hold on to Perez

I’ve realised I’ve done very little driver endorsement recently. Pastor Maldonado has more power than he’s due for a man who once ran Lewis Hamilton off the road on a warm down lap.

Adrian Sutil’s return was a shattering blow to a number of young drivers.

Paul di Resta? Eh.

But this week I’m going to commend a driver instead.

Sergio Perez will be walking from Woking at the end of the season – and McLaren would be making a serious mistake.

McLaren feels that Perez has under performed. He’s been out qualified by Jenson Button on nine from 17 occasions, and outscored to the tune of 60 points to 35.

On the surface, it looks like Martin Whitmarsh and Co have a point – but one really ought to look a little deeper than the stats alone.

Jenson Button is a veteran of 14 seasons and 245 race starts.

He’s been working with the team for four years – and with Lewis Hamilton out of the frame relatively early in 2012, Button’s had the ability to move the team around him to some degree.

Perez, in his third year, is already on the back foot.

Now consider the context.

Button moved to McLaren during an era of stability, remaining competitive from the moment he signed up, allowing the already confident World Champion to build on the momentum of his 2009 title.

Performing at McLaren was almost effortless for the Jenson Button we’d been waiting to see for almost a decade.

Sergio Perez, meanwhile, signed his contract after a mere two seasons at Sauber – a solid and consistent midfield team with tempered expectations.

Pressure was piled onto him to support what would have been Button’s year in a car virtually to his own – a car that ended the 2012 season as fastest of the field.

But 2013 was all sizzle, and no steak.

The car was a wretched thing, so bad that a return to the 2012 challenger was briefly considered.

With two rounds remaining, its best finish is two paltry fifth places – one delivered by each driver.

Paddy Lowe left. Vodafone left.

Button described the team as ‘embarrassing’. Martin Whitmarsh’s job was put under the spotlight, some suggesting Ron Dennis was waiting in the wings to take back his team. 2013 turned from a potential dream to a very real nightmare.

The team went into a tailspin.

Enter Perez. Where stability and order once ruled, chaos and confusion greeted him.

Yet it’s on the back of this season – one of McLaren’s worst ever – that it should decide Perez is not the man for the job.

But there’s another more compelling reason to retain Perez.

It’s well covered that the sport’s pipeline of driving talent is being throttled by a lack of serious testing.

Up-and-coming drivers have fewer opportunities than ever to prove their mettle to their would-be paymasters.

Perez, though no longer a rookie, falls into this category – and, importantly, so does Romain Grosjean.

Grosjean is in his second full F1 season.

His first chance – a late inclusion for Renault in 2009 – was a resounding flop, sending him back to the junior categories for two further seasons.

His return last year almost ended similarly – numerous first-lap crashes, attributed to his poor driving, eventually earnt him a rare one-race ban – and had his future dangling by a thread.

Here, the Perez/Grosjean stories diverge. Lotus kept faith in its driver.

It backed him for a second season, recognising that his brief flashes of speed and racecraft in 2012 could translate into competitive consistency in 2013.

The gamble paid off and Grosjean has been transformed from a first-lap nutcase to a future Champion.

Sergio Perez has not be afforded the same chance.

Perez, despite showing similar flashes of brilliance that bought Grosjean a stay of execution last season, despite suffering with substandard equipment, and despite entering a team during one of its darkest moments, earns no reprieve.

I am not, of course, reflecting on Kevin Magnussen or his potential.

If he’s as good as Martin Whitmarsh’s relentless hinting suggests, he could well be McLaren’s new hope.

I don’t doubt that he’s a talented young driver, or that he’s deserving of a place in Formula One.

But Perez promised similar out-of-the-box pace. So the crux is this: why should McLaren continue turning over rookies when it may well already be halfway to developing its own gem?