Perez still in disbelief over Red Bull seat

New Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has conceded he is still in disbelief at being given the opportunity to drive for the four-time champions.

Perez will partner Max Verstappen this season in place of Alex Albon following his superb campaign last year in which he clinched his maiden win en route to fourth in the drivers' standings whilst at Racing Point.

For the 30-year-old, the move still seems unreal as he said: "I still don't believe that I am here, to be honest.

"When I put the Red Bull branding on myself it is just like, wow! Something that I never really considered as an option.

"Not being part of the Red Bull programme at a young age seems to be critical, but things in life... you end up in places that you had dreamt of.

"It's a dream come true. Being part of this Red Bull family is just amazing. I love this brand so much, I have so much admiration for what they do, the amount of support they give to sports.

"I just look forward to having a very successful start but, more than that, a very successful season."

New team-mate Verstappen led a one-man charge against the imperious Mercedes' last year, with the hope at Red Bull being Perez can provide back up.

When asked what he was most looking forward to about the new season, Perez replied: "The car, see how competitive we are able to be.

"We definitely have to close the gap up to Mercedes and hopefully be able to beat them with both cars, regularly give them a big challenge and hopefully give a better spectacle to Formula 1 itself as well.

"It just takes a little bit to change the whole picture so hopefully, from what I have heard from the engineers, they have been working really hard this winter."

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