Perez’s media session began with a tribute to Charlie Whiting. The Brit sadly passed away in Melbourne at the age of 66. 

‘’[I’m] very sad with the news that we received today. We lost a big guy for us, for the sport. I’m definitely going to miss him a lot.  

He was always a fantastic guy in the meetings, dealing with all of us. We’re not the most normal people out there in the world; dealing with 20 drivers every weekend and team managers, it was a hard job for him. He always did his best.  

As a person, he was a true gentleman. All my thoughts go to his family. It’s a big loss for the sport. I also want to dedicate my weekend to Charlie, to his family.’’ 

Attentions then turned to the weekend and he’s ''very excited’’ to see his upgraded car from testing, and who may lead the midfield. 

‘’I am very excited, I’m looking forward [to trying the upgraded package]. It will be the first weekend we really try our new car.  

I really think this can really give us a good boost. I hope that it overdelivers. This can put us in the fight with everyone else out there. 

I think the midfield group is very strong. Everyone is very close. At the moment, Haas looks to be ahead of all of us. They looked really, really quick in Barcelona. It’s a long year and it’s important to start the season scoring good points.’’ 

The Mexican also got asked about the new rule where a driver in the top 10 will score a point if they set the fastest lap in a race. 

‘’We’ll see how it pans out in the first couple of races. It can be a bit changeable; it will be very interesting to see that.’’