Sergio Perez has said that he is hoping for contract talks with Red Bull in the near future as he looks to tie down his status in the sport for the new era in 2022.

Sweeping regulation changes come into effect for next season and Red Bull will be hoping that this year is going to pave the way for them to be right at the front of the grid for Formula 1's next chapter.

Naturally, then, Sergio Perez wants to be a part of that and has said as much in speaking to the press ahead of this weekend's Styrian Grand Prix:

“There will be some downtime where we can speak about it and hopefully it doesn’t take too long, because I don’t have a good experience when you take that long.

“But I see it as a natural thing; once you are comfortable with the team working with them and the team working with you it is something that should happen naturally, happen very smoothly, and we should just take it out of the season and just focus on the right stuff.”

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Perez's contract runs out at the end of this season, as is the case for many drivers ahead of the new regulations coming in, but few can say they're doing as good a job as the Mexican right now.

He looks well settled in at Red Bull now and has achieved two podiums in his last two races, including a fine victory around the streets of Baku.

He may not challenge for the title this season at least, but he has proven himself to be a more than capable driver for the team and that is something they have not had two of for a while in all fairness, with Max Verstappen often having to fight the Mercees cars on his own in recent years.