Perez racing against time in weight reduction

MELBOURNE: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has been on a crash diet ahead of tomorrow’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Force India asked him to shed some kilos to compensate for an overweight car.

“I tried so hard to lose weight in the last couple of weeks since Barcelona (testing),” the 27-yearold told reporters on Thursday.

“Obviously I increased my weight from last year purely by training harder, putting on muscle, but I was on an extreme diet all last week and still now...I am all the time very hungry.”

Formula One drivers have worked on building upper body strength over the winter to adapt to new regulations that will subject them to greater G forces in cornering as cars lap significantly faster.