"Massively underrated" Perez "absolutely one of the best" - Green

Racing Point technical director Andrew Green believes Sergio Perez to be 'one of the best' Formula 1 drivers on the grid.

Perez is widely regarded as one of the best drivers in the midfield but, other than a 2013 move to McLaren, none of the big teams have ever shown much interest in the Mexican.

Possibly a victim of the low number of race winning seats in the sport, Green holds Perez in high regard, giving special praise to the driver's ability to manage the difficult Pireilli tyres.

"I do. I think he's massively underrated," Green told the Formula 1 Beyond the Grid podcast. "I think he’s absolutely at the peak of his career now, he’s not fazed by anything.

“His feedback has always been amazing. His mental capacity to drive the car and feedback on what the car is doing and, on a Sunday afternoon with the race around him, for me he is one of the best.

“His tyre management, he's in the top two or three on the grid. There’s not many who can do better, and I think there's some who can probably match him, but he just has that feeling.

"He just has that feeling as he goes into the corner of what the tyre’s doing, what it needs, what he needs out of it. His slip control on the throttle coming out of the corners is just remarkable, it’s like he’s got built-in traction control.”

Perez has visited the podium on eight occasions, twice for Sauber and six-times for Force India. Since the change of identity to Racing Point, there has been no additional silverware gathered, but Green knows Sundays are when Perez gets going.

"Once Checo gets into rhythm on a Sunday afternoon, he's absolutely one of the best," continued Green. "I think he's one of the few drivers who really excelled on tyre management and being able to read the car, understand what he needs to do with the tyres, how long he needs to hold back, when he can start pushing."

However, for all his race-day prowess, Perez has never been the best qualifier.

Green added: “He understands that his weakness is a Saturday afternoon in qualifying, but I think part of that is driven by the fact that he likes to set the car up for his driving style on a Sunday afternoon, and sometimes that isn’t always the quickest way to set your car up on a Saturday afternoon.

“But he’s absolutely insistent, ‘this is the way I want it’. And I think time and time again, he’s proven to be right. Occasionally he overdoes it, and we end up poor on Saturday and Sunday, but it’s very rare.”

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