• Force India

Hulkenberg ready for Perez battle

ESPN Staff
January 14, 2014 « Raikkonen begins Ferrari simulator work | Vettel explains number choice »
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Nico Hulkenberg believes he and Sergio Perez will be closely matched this season at Force India as they are at similar stages in their development.

After Hulkenberg's return to Force India was announced the team also signed Perez as his team-mate for 2014 following his release from McLaren. With both drivers having had three full seasons in the sport, Hulkenberg told the Force India website that it should make for a competitive partnership.

"It will be really interesting to work with Checo," Hulkenberg said. "We both have four years' worth of experience in Formula One, so you can say we are at a similar stage in our careers. Of course, we will both try to be in front of each other, but that's normal when you are in these circumstances. We thrive in a competitive environment and this is what we will have here."

Hulkenberg also warned that, while the new regulations open up opportunities for a change in the competitive order, it is also possible for teams to end up well off the pace.

"At the moment, nobody knows how this season and the new cars are going to be. There are a lot of questions which we can't really answer until we have been on the track, running - not even the first race will be the absolute truth teller. There will be a lot of data we need to look at and analyse, work with it to go forward.

"Never before there has been a situation like this, when with just a couple of weeks before the first test nobody has any idea of where everyone is. It's a pretty unique situation for everyone. It's a challenge, an opportunity to do something special, but on the other hand it opens up the opportunity to do mistakes, so we will need to do our work well."

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