Perez sets sights on "special" podium to mark 200th F1 race

Sergio Perez is hoping to earn a "special" podium at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend as he celebrates his 200th race in F1.

The Mexican reaches the landmark with a chance for victory given Red Bull's pace at its home circuit at last weekend's Styrian Grand Prix where Perez narrowly missed out on clinching the final podium position.

With Perez gaining an understanding of how the RB16B handles around the Red Bull Ring last weekend, he is hoping that experience will set him up for a strong event on his special occasion.

"I can't believe this is my 200th race," said the two-time race winner.

"I am really looking forward to racing in the same place for a second weekend, I think this will give me a very good understanding of the car.

"I now have a very good reference from last weekend and I know the areas I need to improve.

"It will also be interesting to see how much the tyre compounds will change the performance and strategy throughout the weekend.

"I think we can do very well this weekend and it would be very special to step up on the podium here at our home race and secure more points for the team."

Verstappen warns against expecting repeat of Styria

Perez's team-mate Max Verstappen was in dominant form last weekend with a 35-second victory extending his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton.

Despite the next race being at the same venue, Verstappen has warned against becoming complacent and insisted there was room for improvement across the team.

"To win our home race last weekend was a whole team effort and we can be very happy with that, but we cannot expect the same result easily this weekend," he explained.

"People will learn from what they didn’t do so well last week and also we have softer tyre compounds which could mix things up as well.

"We had a very positive race but there are always things we can do better and I naturally expect everyone to be closer this weekend as this is usually what happens when you have back-to-back races at the same track."

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