Sergio Perez: SportPesa Racing Point “the same team, just with more budget”

During the Hungarian Grand Prix last year Perez, along with other creditors, instigated Force India going into administration to continue operating while a new owner was found.

That owner came in the form of a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, father of current SportPesa Racing Point driver Lance Stroll, who has helped fund the team since.

The Mexican felt a change had to be done for the sake of the team to continue in the sport.

Perez told F1i.com: "You know, we were coming to a point in time where things were looking very, very hard, very difficult within the team to continue like this

"So, we wanted to get that done and get the organization back in place to make sure everyone could keep their job.

The Mexican has only managed three top ten finishes so far this season but he expected this year to be a struggle after last year, with more of the focus on 2020.

"I think we knew it was going to be hard," he added