The Australian Grand Prix has always been a favourite among the drivers, both for Melbourne's festive atmosphere as the city revs up before the event as well as for the particular joys of racing around the Albert park circuit.
Although Melbourne has never been a bright spot in his five-year long Formula 1 career, Force India's Sergio Perez loves the place and is rearing to go.
"It feels great to be going racing again. Winter has been long and I have been missing the atmosphere you get from a race weekend.
"Going to Melbourne is a great way to start the year and it’s one of my favourite races. Everyone is very friendly and relaxed and I always enjoy those races close to a big city."
Perez believes that like any street circuit, Albert park requires the perfect blend of precision and consistency.
"I’m a big fan of street tracks and Albert Park is a real challenge. You can’t afford to be rusty because it’s a circuit that doesn’t forgive your mistakes. Getting a perfect lap together is quite difficult because it’s quite stop-start.
"You need to be good on your brakes and strong out of the traction zones. Overtaking is always difficult - even though there are some good spots like turns three and thirteen."
Force India exited winter testing in Barcelona with a good performance level compared to its rivals. But Perez still reckons that any can happen once the race weekend gets underway.
"No matter how many laps you do in testing, you never really know where you are compared to the other teams. So I don’t want to say too much. As a team we feel quite happy with what we achieved in Barcelona and that’s the main thing."
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