In the spotlight: Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez is making a name for himself this season with two podium place finishes in Malaysia and Canada. He is definitely showing us what he's got. Perez, currently sits 9th in the championship, only eight points behind the 2009 world champion, Jenson Button and 16 points ahead of his team mate Kamui Kobayashi.

The season got underway in Australia back in March, and after a pretty mediocre performance in the 2011 season he definitely wanted to come back with a vengeance and prove he has what it takes to be in Formula 1. Perez failed to make it out of Q1 in Melbourne and was left a dismal 22nd on the grid, but race day saw him move up to finish in 8th position and start the season off, with four points on the board.

Malaysia saw Sergio Perez clinch his first ever podium in Formula 1, a fantastic 2nd place finish behind Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. In a wet weather race where Perez worked the Pirelli compounds better than any other driver, to get him up to a podium position after starting 9th on the grid. The Sauber driver could have even taken the win from Fernando Alonso if it was for running wide onto the wet part of the track towards the latter half of the race.

China and Bahrain were close races for the young Mexican, just missing out on the points. The Spanish Grand Prix was disappointing for Perez, after starting 5th on the grid it looked like a promising race but a transmission problem on the car meant he had to retire, and left him out of the points once again.

Finishing 11th in Monaco after starting 23rd, Sergio Perez showed us that he can race and can go on to challenge for decent points finishes, which is exactly what he did in Canada where he finished in 3rd position behind Romain Grosjean and 2008 world champion, Lewis Hamilton.

So what is it that Sergio Perez is getting right?

The Pirelli tyre compounds this season have been interesting and a talking point amongst the paddock. Perez has been able to work these compounds better than anyone else, enabling him to do longer stints, have fewer pitstops during the race and achieve better results than what some people might have expect from him.

Sauber have a strong car this year with both drivers helping to be ahead in the mid-field team battle in the constructors championship. Sauber sit 6th in the standings, 11 points behind Mercedes but staying clear of Williams, who are 14 points behind them.

Is this a new beginning for Sauber? A new partnership with Chelsea football club, can they go for goal and reach the top step of the podium this season?

Next stop on the Formula 1 calendar is Valencia in two weeks time. Can Sergio Perez achieve his first win in Formula 1 and be the eighth different winner this season?

We'll just have to wait and see.