Perez seeking to put Monaco in the rear view mirror

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Sergio Perez hopes that this weekend's race will help him get over a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix.

Perez qualified in the top ten for the previous race, but ended up finishing outside the points. Meanwhile his Force India team mate Esteban Ocon started and finished in sixth place.

"We didn’t get the result our pace deserved," Perez explained. "We had a problem at the pit stop and this completely ruined our race.

"In the second part of the race we had good pace. Unfortunately, it was impossible to overtake," he sighed. "Esteban showed what we could do, and it feels like an opportunity lost.

"I was disappointed not to get the result I think we deserved in Monaco," he admitted. "The car was quick, but the luck wasn’t on my side."

However, Perez still felt that Monaco showed that the VJM11 was getting better and better as the season progressed.

"We are becoming more competitive with each race weekend," he said.

A week after getting married to his girlfriend Carola, the Mexican wants a new start at the next round of the 2018 season in Montreal.

Bold Ocon just loves Montreal's most feared spot

"I want to get back in the car to forget Monaco!" he said. "I enjoy visiting Canada and I have some very good memories from Montreal.

"I finished on the podium there in 2012 in one of the most exciting races of my career, and I’ve had some other strong performances there - including last year."

Perez pipped his team mate to fifth place in 2017, and would love a similar result this year to show that he's back on top.

"I am really looking forward to being there because it’s one of those really fun events," he said. "I always see a lot of Mexican fans in the stands, which is always special for me.

“The track itself is not easy," he acknowledged. "There are a few corners that can easily catch you out and it’s difficult to get a clean lap.

"My favourite part is the final chicane: you arrive there from a very long straight and you have to jump on the brakes and be really precise.

It’s easy to make a mistake and the Wall of Champions is there with no run off.

"A mistake can cost you the whole lap, or the whole race even, because there is no margin for error."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.