Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsForce India

'My dream is to win' - Perez

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Sergio Perez says his dream is to win the Mexican Grand Prix but believes Force India has a tough weekend ahead.

This weekend marks F1's return to Mexico for the first time in 23 years, providing Perez with his first home grand prix. Coming in to the race on the back of a podium in Russia and fifth place in the USA last week, Perez finished FP2 in 15th place, some two seconds slower than Nico Rosberg.

Asked if his dream was to finish on the podium, Perez replied: “My dream is to win and to win in Mexico.

"It would give them a lot of happiness here. We’re working very hard and I think this weekend is going to be very hard, as we have some teams who are very competitive, the McLarens are the big surprise of the weekend. It’s a very unique track, with a lack of down force you have through here and the slippery surface we are having, it’s a very unique track.”

While cautious over his chances of a strong result, Perez says being able to drive in front of his home fans - including through the baseball stadium at the end of the lap - is a special experience.

“It just feels amazing; it’s such a dream, not just for me but for my whole country. To have a Mexican Grand Prix means a lot. Every time I’m watching the TV, I can see them [the fans] having a lot of fun, so that makes you feel very happy for the country. I really hope I can give them a great race on Sunday.

“The entry of the stadium; I think that’s a pretty good part. There are a lot of people, more than 40,000 people on those two corners in that little section. It’s very special.”

AS IT HAPPENED: Mexican Grand Prix FP2

Eric Silbermann's Mexican grumpy preview

Technical analysis: United States

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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.