Perez poised to make up for scoreless Canada

Force India’s Sergio Perez says he is keen to make up for his Montreal “disappointment” by bouncing back during this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Mexican had qualified a solid tenth at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but narrowly missed out on a second consecutive points finish on race day as he drove his Mercedes-powered VJM08 to 11^th.

“Not scoring in Canada was a disappointment so I want to make up for that in Austria,” said Perez. “Last year it was not an easy race for me, starting far down the order, but we had a brilliant race, scored well and set the fastest lap of the race.”

The ex-McLaren racer had one of his strongest 2014 performances in Austria, as he recovered from a grid penalty that left him P16 to finish a strong sixth at the chequered flag.

Coming after Montreal, the Red Bull Ring is another power track where Mercedes engines are tipped to keep the edge. But Perez expects the Austrian Grand Prix to remain a hotly contested affair due to Spielberg’s fast and flowing nature.

“The circuit has a simple layout and few corners and so the margins between drivers are smaller compared to some other tracks. It means a mistake in qualifying can set you back a long way.

“It requires a lot of concentration but it's fun to drive, with elevation changes and some very tricky corners.”

This weekend’s Austrian event will also be the final race before Force India introduces its heavily upgraded B-spec car at next week’s in-season test.

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter