![\"Sergio-Perez-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/gallery\/f1-2013-rif-images\/f1-2013-drivers\/Sergio-Perez-1.jpg\")
But, in a statement posted via Twitter, the Mexican driver toned down his criticism and insisted he doesn’t regret having joined McLaren “even a bit”.<\/p>\nAfter accusing McLaren of lacking “organisation and humility” in 2013, Sergio Perez has announced he is leaving the British team.<\/p>\n
But, in a statement posted via Twitter, the Mexican driver toned down his criticism and insisted he doesn’t regret having joined McLaren “even a bit”.<\/p>\n
It emerged early this week that McLaren has decided to replace 23-year-old Perez, who only joined the team from Sauber at the end of last year, with its development rookie Kevin Magnussen.<\/p>\n
“I have always given the best of me for the team,” Perez wrote in his statement posted in Spanish and English, “and still despite this I could not achieve what I aimed for in this historic team.”<\/p>\n
He described losing his McLaren seat as a “difficult moment”, but said 2013 was a “learning experience” and he vowed to keep racing in 2014.<\/p>\n
“I will always be a fan of McLaren,” said Perez.\u00a0 “In the meanwhile I will be looking at my future to ensure my position in the best possible package to fight for wins.”<\/p>\n
Backed by the billionaire Carlos Slim-linked Telmex, Perez is now being linked with a move to Lotus, Force India, or a less likely return to Sauber.<\/p>\n
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh described Perez’s departing statement as “kind and gracious”.<\/p>\n
“We wish him well for the future, and are sure that he will have many successes ahead of him,” he said.<\/p>\n
It is believed official confirmation of Perez’s successor, Magnussen, is imminent.<\/p>\n
“Kevin is so good and clever,” Danish F1 journalist Peter Nygaard said, “I think he could even beat Jenson Button.”<\/p>\n
Magnussen and his father Jan, who raced in F1 for McLaren and Stewart, join F1’s other sons-and-fathers including Damon and Graham Hill, Jacques and Gilles Villeneuve and Nico and Keke Rosberg.<\/p>\n
“McLaren are taking a risk in having a new Hamilton,” wrote Sportwoche chief editor Gerard Enzinger, “and if he fails, he will be spat out, just like Sergio Perez.”<\/p>\n
\u00a9 RIF | GMM<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After accusing McLaren of lacking “organisation and humility” in 2013, Sergio Perez has announced he is leaving the British team. But, in a statement posted via Twitter, the Mexican driver toned down his criticism and insisted he doesn’t regret having joined McLaren “even a bit”. It emerged early this week that McLaren has decided to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[2078,5262,3596,491,5284,1952],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19877,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19876\/revisions\/19877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}