Perez aware of heightened exposure

Sergio Perez believes the incidents he has been involved in this year have been magnified by the fact he now drives for McLaren.

Perez has found himself in the firing line over the past couple of months, with his seemingly aggressive driving style questioned by a number of drivers.

The 23-year-old Mexican has noticeably fallen out with team-mate Jenson Button after they clashed in Bahrain, and in Monaco with Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn claiming Perez maybe needed a punch in the face to teach him a lesson.

Perez, however, feels if he was still driving for Sauber then the attention would not be as focused.

“If you look at my race last year in Monaco (with Sauber) I started last, and I made five or six moves into the chicane, and yet nobody commented on those,” said Perez.

“So yeah, when you are at McLaren, the spotlight is on you, people comment a lot about what you do right, what you do wrong.

“You definitely get more attention.”

Perez, though, is adamant he has not altered the way he drives as he added: “When you come to McLaren there is no need to change.

“All you have to do is do the interviews, and after that go and focus 100 per cent on your job.

“At the end of the day that’s all that matters.”