Sergio Perez has long been one of Formula One’s finest talents -but how did the 32-year-old get to where he is today?
Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Perez came from a racing Family. His brother, Antonio Perez Mendoza, was a very successful stock car driver, making his debut in NASCAR Mexico in 2005, and becoming series champion in 2008.
When he was just 6 years old, Checo started karting. By the end of the year he had taken 4 victories, and was runner up in the junior category. The following year, he did even better. By the end of the season, Perez had taken 8 victories and became the youngest ever winner of the junior series. Perez continued to impress in karts, becoming the youngest driver to win a competition in the 80 cc Shifter category, aged just 9 years old.
In 2005 Perez moved to Europe to compete in the German Formula BMW ADAC series, where he spent 2 seasons, finishing in 14th and 6th respectfully. The following year, Perez switched to the British Formula 3 Championship, where he dominated the National Class. He comfortably won the championship, winning two thirds of the races and only failed to finish two races on the podium. He was promoted to the International Class the following year, and finished 4th after leading the championship early on.
In 2009 we saw Perez make his debut in GP2, the precurser to Formula 2. After a difficult first year at Arden, where he came just 12th in the championship, Perez picked up form in 2010, finishing 2nd ahead of Jules Bianchi in 3rd, and only behind the experienced Pastor Maldonado.
His impressive second year in the category saw Perez rewarded with a Formula One drive, with the Sauber team taking up the opportunity to let the Mexican show his talent in the premier series of motorsport.
It was a difficult start to life in Formula 1, with many branding him as a pay driver due to his backing from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. After struggling to get in the points all year, Perez finished his first season in 16th place and with just 14 points – less than half the amount as his teammate Kobayashi.
The following year was much improved however, and Perez was able to bring his lower midfield car from one that struggled for top 10 finishes, to one that was able to fight for podiums and even race wins. By the end of 2012, Perez had almost quintupled his points tally from the previous season – and big teams were looking in.
It was McLaren that came calling for 2013, but a poor car saw Perez have a difficult year, and he was dropped for the following season. Fear not though – as Force India saw the great potential in the Mexican and decided to give him a drive for 2014.
To say his time at Force India was successful would be an understatement. After just 3 races Perez had got himself on the podium, and in his 7 years at the team he had achieved an impressive 7 podiums – especially good as he was very much in a midfield car.
After consistently being the best driver in the midfield for 6 years, Perez was finally rewarded with a car he deserved in 2020. Despite not having a seat for the following season for all 17 races, Perez performed incredibly. He finished his first 12 races in the points, and got his first podium in 2 and a half years in the Turkish Grand Prix. He failed to finish the next race in Bahrain, but he did not let that affect his performance in the following race.
In the one-off Sakhir Grand Prix, Perez had a disasterous start. Perez was battling with Leclerc and Verstappen for 3rd place when the three crashed together, putting the other two out of the race, and forcing Perez to pit and come out in last position. Despite having the nails put in his coffin, Perez was completely undeterred. Perez fought valiantly, making his way through the field. Long time leader George Russell had a disaster of a pit stop on lap 64, putting Perez in the lead. Perez maintened his lead and came out victor of the grand prix – the first time he had done so in his 190 race career up until that point.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner had been impressed by these performances from Perez, and after the Mexican finished 4th in the championship, Perez received a call over the winter, asking him to become a Red Bull driver for 2021.
Perez took up the drive for Red Bull in 2021, and a poor first few races saw him become number 2 to Max Verstappen throughout the year. Despite this, Perez capitalised on a chaotic restart due to a red flag caused by Verstappen having a tyre failure, and won his 2nd race in Formula 1 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. Perez followed this up with a 3rd place in France, but the middle of the season proved difficult for Perez, with him having to wait 8 races for his next podium in Turkey. This was then followed by a 3rd place after a brilliant performance at the Circuit of the Americas, and a 3rd place in his home race at the Mexican Grand Prix. Perez finished the season in 4th place again, and the final third of the season saw many impressed by the consistency Perez had managed to have. He kept his seat for 2022.
In 2022 Perez stepped his game up. After a last lap retirement in Bahrain, Perez secured his first pole position in Saudia Arabia – at the 215th time of asking. Perez was hard done by due to a safety car and only finished 4th, but he followed that up with back to back second places in Australia and Imola, and finished 4th in Miami the following race. In Spain he was asked to give up the lead by his team in favour of teammate Max Verstappen, and came home in second place.
The most recent race as I am writing this was the Monaco Grand Prix, where Perez put himself into the title fight. After a crash in Qualifying, Perez started 3rd in the rain. The race was red flagged and started an hour late, before changing conditions saw it go from full wets, to intermediates, to dry tyres. Perez pitted early for intermediates, picking up a lot of pace. When it was time to come in for dry tyres, Perez took the lead after a strategic blunder from Ferrari. The race was soon red flagged for a second time after a crash from Mick Schumacher, and it was shortened to 64 laps. Upon the restart, Perez defended well and continued to defend the chasing Carlos Sainz for 30 laps before taking the checkered flag in 1st for the third time in his career.
Perez has impressed massively in Formula 1, and he is looking like a serious title contender at the moment. Could we see him become Mexico’s first Formula 1 world champion? We’ll have to see in November.