Perez determined to give Mercedes "a hard time"

Sergio Perez has expressed hope Mercedes will be given "a hard time" this season following his move to Red Bull.

Perez took the first victory of his Formula 1 career last year at the Sakhir Grand Prix in what was his penultimate race for former team Racing Point - now Aston Martin.

After the 2020 season came to a close, Red Bull announced the Mexican would replace Alex Albon on the opposite side of the garage to Max Verstappen for the coming year.

After tasting success, Perez is hungry to return to the top step of the podium although he naturally concedes Mercedes will again be the team to beat.

“The goal is to win," asserted Perez. "There is obviously a process to it. We have to get on top and hopefully, the car is good enough for that but we have to wait and see.

“Mercedes has a good advantage on the team the last few years so hopefully this season we are able to close the gap and give them a hard time."

Red Bull was one of a number of teams that used one of its two permitted filming days this pre-season to shakedown its new machinery, putting the RB16B through its paces at Silverstone.

It is a process Perez believes was crucial to speed up his integration into the team ahead of the three-day pre-season test that starts in Bahrain on Friday.

“I think it was just for get me comfortable in the car so when we go to Bahrain it is not something we have to be concerned about," added Perez.

"It takes a lot of time to be 100 per cent comfortable and I expect myself to be making changes in the first five races to get very comfortable with the car.

“I have to say that we have done a lot of progress on that. We have changed the seat, the belts. Every time we are doing something different.

"So that is a priority to get me comfortable with it so when we go to Bahrain we are ready to kick some arse.”

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