Force India’s Sergio Perez has admitted he is relishing the opportunity to race in his homeland at this weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix and hopes to bring home the points.

Mexico will host its first Formula One event in 23 years in front of what is expected to be a 100,000-strong capacity crowd.

Perez, who can be backed at 12.00 to claim a podium finish in Mexico, is currently the only Mexican driver on the grid and is hopeful of putting in a positive drive for the watching fans.

Force India have been competitive this season and Perez has finished in the points in five of the last six races.

The 25-year-old is bidding to become the first Mexican to score in a home race since the late Pedro Rodriguez came home in sixth in 1970.

The former McLaren man insists he is not getting carried away but hopes to repeat his heroics from the Russian Grand Prix, which saw him claim his best finish of the campaign as he claimed third place.

Perez said: “Having the opportunity of driving in my home grand prix is something I never thought would happen.

“It will be one of the highlights of my career and I have no doubt that this race will become a modern classic of F1.

“In normal conditions we are the fourth or fifth fastest team depending on the race weekend.

“So in a normal race, there’s no chance.

“Russia was a one-off. Probably in my whole career in F1 I never had two safety cars before lap 30 or so. So in normal conditions it’s going to be difficult but we aim to do the best we can for all the Mexican fans.”