Force India's Sergio Perez reveals how he feels about driving in the boldest car on track in the 2017 season. (1:26)
Sergio Perez has revealed Force India's overweight 2017 car has forced him into an "extreme diet" to shed pounds ahead of the new season.
Force India's underwhelming pre-season in Barcelona prompted questions about the team's competitiveness ahead of the new season, and soon reports surfaced of both drivers being asked to lose weight in a bid to help the team. Though all the drivers have been bulking up ahead of the new season in order to handle the bigger, faster 2017 cars, Perez confirms he has had to do the opposite since leaving Spain.
"I have tried so hard to lose weight in the last couple of weeks since Barcelona," Perez said, revealing he's already dropped two kilos since testing finished. "Obviously I increased my weight from last year purely by training harder, putting on more muscle, but I was on an extreme diet all last week and still now until Saturday [I will do the same].
"I am all the time very hungry. As much weight as I can lose, the better it will be for us."
Perez says Australia will be the first chance to properly test the car with his adjusted weight. The Mexican driver is not expecting his dramatic diet to be a long-term solution to Force India's problems.
"We haven't weighed the car actually, because in testing you have a lot of sensors and things on the car. Right now, considering that I lose two kilos or three since Barcelona, then probably we might be quite close [to the ideal level].
"I think the weight, sooner or later we will be on it. If not this weekend, then latest by Bahrain, so I don't think that is a big issue."
