Perez unconcerned about McLaren future despite Alonso talk

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh openly admitted at the Singapore Grand Prix that the team wanted to see an improvement from Perez before it handed him a fresh contract for 2014.

And the man it most wanted in the event it chose to replace the Mexican was Alonso - who has subsequently said he has no interest in returning to the Woking-based outfit in the near future.

Perez said he was unconcerned about the matter on Friday, and reckons there are no doubts he would be at McLaren next year.

"You have to work very hard in any team you are, you have to always give your best and you have to be very professional," he said, when asked if Whitmarsh's comments were designed as a wake-up call for him to lift his efforts.

"I am trying to give my best. It has been a very difficult season for all of us, but I have always said that my future here looks okay.

"I am here for next year, and let's see - hopefully we can be back to fight for a championship next year."

Perez's team-mate Jenson Button, whose option for 2014 has been taken up by McLaren, laughed off claims that he could line-up alongside Fernando Alonso next year.

"It's rubbish, I would say," said the Briton. "I don't know why he would leave a team that is his family.

"I think it's people trying to make stories up that don't exist because we've run out of stories about where everyone's going next year."