Gallery: Perez's first run with Red Bull at Silverstone

Red Bull and Sergio Perez were up and running this afternoon at a bitterly cold Silverstone where the Mexican enjoyed his first laps with his new team.

Perez was onboard Red Bull's 2019 car but the he'll enjoy an outing tomorrow, as will Max Verstappen, at the wheel of the team's new RB16B.

Last year's Sakhir Grand Prix winner and former Racing Point charger gets his long-awaited big break this season with a front-running team in F1 and intends to make the most of the opportunity.

"It’s been amazing," said Perez after his first track day with Red Bull. "To look at my name on the car is something very special.

"It’s definitely a dream come true. We’ve already done a lot of work in the simulator working on the controls and I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made in terms of feeling more comfortable in the car.

"Everything about the car is different. It’s still an F1 car in the end but the seating position is different, the steering wheel, the brakes, the buttons, procedures, the engine and the power delivery, the torque, so many things are different. But I can see there is so much potential with this Team."

Perez and Verstappen are relying on Red Bull's new, and hopefully improved, RB16B to sustain the momentum displayed by the Dutchman at the end of last season when he dominated F1's finale at Abu Dhabi.

But Red Bull is also counting on it's new recruit to add performance and consistency to its 2021 line-up and help it take the fight to arch-rival Mercedes on a regular basis.