Sergio Perez insists it is realistic for Force India to still believe it can overhaul Renault in this year’s Constructors’ Championship, in spite of the manufacturer’s advantage.
Force India, fourth in the standings across the past few years, has been dragged back into the midfield fight, while Renault has continued on its recent path of improvement.
However, Force India remains in contention for overall midfield honours, currently occupying seventh place, though just 20 points behind fourth-placed Renault.
Perez reckons that reeling in the French manufacturer remains within the team’s ability – though once more stressed that postponed updates need to arrive soon.
“I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think we can still beat Renault,” said Perez.
“I think if we improve in the next couple of races a bit more, the margin is not that far at the moment.
“It’s clear that they have been the most consistent and probably the benchmark right now in the midfield. “But I don’t think they are too far ahead. If we are able to speed up our rate of progress I think we can get them still. It’s a long season ahead.
“They’ve been the most consistent team but they are not in another league. They are quite reachable. It’s just a matter of us speeding up a bit the upgrades and then we can be in the fight again.”
On Force India’s development situation, Perez said: “[We need] to bring the upgrades we need as soon as possible, because for a while we kind of got stuck.
“We were developing the car and then we got stuck, while people just keep improving their cars. But the gaps are not big, so whatever you can do from one race to another, it can change the story of the midfield.”
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