Martin Whitmarsh claims Sergio Perez has so far “not put a foot wrong” in the face of a difficult start to his McLaren career.

Upon filling the shoes vacated by Lewis Hamilton, a confident Perez made no secret of his target to win this season’s Formula One world title.

Such an ambition, however, now appears a long shot given the car at his disposal is struggling in a number of areas.

After failing to score in the season-opening race in Australia, the young Mexican at least managed to get off the mark a week later in Malaysia where he finished ninth.

Team principal Whitmarsh appreciates it is not the start Perez had dreamed of in joining McLaren, but has praised him for his attitude in dealing with such tough circumstances.

“He’s done a solid job,” said Whitmarsh, when asked about Perez by Press Association Sport.

“It’s easy to get rattled in coming to a team like McLaren and not having a quick enough car.

“But he’s an intelligent guy, who might be incredibly young but to my mind he has not put a foot wrong.”

In Malaysia, Perez remarkably claimed he would rather be enduring his current woes with McLaren than winning races with another team, such is the happiness he has discovered since joining from Sauber.

That has impressed Whitmarsh, who added: “He is a team player.

“I am very, very, very blessed at the moment with the drivers we have, with their attitude, their approach, powering through as team members.

“The drivers are doing an excellent job, we’re making some progress, but we shouldn’t be where we are so we have to work hard to get out of it, and that’s what we plan on doing.”

McLaren should at least have finished fifth in Malaysia courtesy of Jenson Button, a sign of how far they had quickly moved on from the debacle in Melbourne.

A pit-stop gaffe put paid to Button’s hopes and only added to the misery being felt within the team, but it was at least a glimmer of hope for Whitmarsh.

“If you had told me on Thursday before the race we would match the pace of the front runners I would have been punching the air,” said Whitmarsh.

“But it was tempered by the fact we threw away a fifth place, an easy one we should have had because Jenson did a fantastic job.

“So although we know the car is not as good as it should be and it hasn’t realised its potential, we’ve made some progress.

“We’ve just got to make some more.”