Who Is Sergio Perez?

Sergio is a triple Formula 1 world champion! He doesn’t only drive cars. He drives them at speeds of up to 200 mph and wins races.

I’ve prepared additional info on Sergio Perez that proves he’s a real star.

The Biography Of Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez Before F1

Sergio Perez, also famous by the nickname Checo, is a Mexican racing driver currently driving for the Force India F1 team.

In 2011, Perez debuted for Sauber as an F1 driver.

However, it happened to be a brief relationship since, before the end of the second season, he was assigned as McLaren’s driver.

Back in 1996, at the age of six, Perez began karting. He got the help of Carlos Slim’s Escudería Telmex, in 2004.

From then onwards, he became a part of the Skip Barber race series in the US.

The next year, Perez went to Europe and spent two years in the German Formula BMW tournament. In 2007, Perez was in Britain, where he began racing for T-Sport.

Furthermore, after great achievement in the national tournament for junior drivers, he qualified for the actual series in 2008.

With half of his first six races in the bad, Perez initiated his 2008 campaign enthusiastically. However, he failed to finish fourth near the season’s end.

The next year, Perez finished in the top three in both Valencia races and moved up to GP2, and said goodbye to the 12th year.

His 2010 was impeccable since he switched to Addax from Arden. However, Pastor Maldonado defeated him for the title.

Debut For Sauber

2011

In 30 years, Perez was announced as the first driver from Mexico to drive in a Formula One race. It happened after he made his first appearance in the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.

After fading seventh at Melbourne, scoring one more point was possible, and every fan expected that.

Unfortunately, the regulators had to eliminate two saubers because of a small infringement that bordered on the technical side.

After four races in Spain, his first points came from finishing in the top ten positions.

In the next racing round in Monaco, Perez graduated to the last ten for the very first time. His achievement was followed up with a heavy crash in Q3’s beginning.

Although he had no significant injuries, Perez had to miss the race and pull back from the next round in Canada due to health recovery.

Afterward, it took appearances in different races for him to regain his full health, according to Perez.

Still, Perez earned additional points in the second half of the racing season after continually out-qualifying the more skillful Kobayashi.

Despite his enfeeblement, he successfully fought his way through and cemented his influence at Suzuka.

The game was memorable. Perez even played a harmless joke on the radio to the rest of his team, stating that his race car lost power just as he took his last turn on the racetrack.

In 2012, he was able to extend his contract at Sauber. Despite that, Ferrari’s mid-season test declared Perez a potential candidate for future collaborations.

2012

The 2012 season started pretty well for Perez. It was the time when Perez nearly won a rain-hit race in Malaysia.

However, he made a costly mistake in dodging the ill-timed pit stop. So, Perez got the second position as Fernando Alonso defeated him for the first place.

The podium finishes in Italy and Canada raised speculations that Ferrari might replace Felipe Massa with Perez.

Luca di Montezemolo, his team’s president, frequently denied the statement as he stated that Perez has yet to gain more experience.

However, McLaren’s view differed from Montezemolo’s judgment. In 2012, Martin Whitmarsh, the team principal, appreciated Perez’s “string of giant-killing performances.”

McLaren

2013

When Perez arrived at McLaren, he was greeted by an extremely disappointing car.

The MP4-28 that McLaren put on the grid in 2013 was a poor replacement for the team’s 2013 race winner.

At the time, he and Jenson Button were only able to finish one race higher than fifth. It happened because Perez and McLaren parted ways after the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He had been banging wheels with Jenson Button during qualifying, which drew ire from Button.

It led to an argument between them and led to Perez’s expulsion from the team despite having two races left before his contract expired.

Force India signed him for the next year, where he was victorious with third place in Bahrain.

Force India

2014

After suffering a defeat at his McLaren drive, Perez signed for the 2014 season with Force India.

With the third position in Bahrain, Perez proved his abilities by putting Force India on the podium for the second time.

In Canada, he was victorious with even better results as he got second place behind the Mercedes that Nico Rosberg was driving.

It happened in the final stages and was a close call to victory until he lost hold of his chance in the final lap in the top three positions.

The last lap showed the entanglement between Perez and Felipe Massa, which resulted in an extreme accident.

2015

Perez was responsible for Force India’s four top-five finishes in 2015, including a top-five finish in Russia.

However, a collision with Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas on the last lap of that race dropped him to fifth.

However, Perez bravely harnessed the upgraded ‘B-spec’ VJM08 shortly after its introduction at the British Grand Prix.

He had a bit of luck on his side, too – with track temperatures staying above freezing throughout, Perez’s tires lasted longer than they should have.

After starting from 15th on the grid, he finished fourth behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel – a great result considering how difficult it is to overtake at Sochi.

Consequently, he won a podium finish.

He took advantage of the team’s poor chassis and took his first podium in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, where he was fourth on the grid but was able to make up through a strong drive.

He faded fifth behind two Ferraris and two Mercedes.

2016

Perez’s strong second half of 2016 saw him outpace Hulkenberg at Force India and bring his team up to second place in their customer program.

He began the year on a high note, with two podium finishes in just three races in Monaco and Azerbaijan.

In both races, he showed that his form from 2015 was not a fluke: he was consistently among the best drivers on track and proved himself a strong competitor for both Williams and Mercedes.

He even out-qualified teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the first time since being paired in 2014.

Perez’s strong results were aided by consistent point-scoring throughout 2016. Thus, he never missed out on points for the entire season.

2017

2017 was a tough year for Perez and Ocon, but it saw the rise of Perez as one of the most talented drivers in the sport.

The start of this year was fairly turbulent, with Ocon and Perez having some issues with each other on track.

They collided at three different races: Baku, Hungaroring, and Spa. The last collision was particularly destructive—both cars were destroyed, and they had to retire from the race.

Force India prohibited them from racing against each other in future races.

After the Grand Prix in Belgium, it was a close call for the Force India drivers, but their tight battle to come out on top of the team pushed Perez hard.

Both drivers had their reasons for wanting to win.

Perez has been struggling with his team after being relegated to fourth in the championship standings, while Ocon was eager to prove that he deserves a seat at Mercedes next year.

2018

The 2018 Formula 1 season was among the most difficult in Force India’s history.

The team struggled with financial issues right from the beginning of the year, and it was only thanks to Sergio Perez’s efforts that they could avoid a complete collapse.

Perez had a tough start to the season, having to endure several other finishes outside of the points in the first three races than he had done in a previous season.

His performance in Baku was dramatic, as he overtook Vettel in the race’s final stages to claim third place.

The Force India team went into administration in the summer of 2018.

This was because the team had been experiencing severe financial problems for some time and could not continue racing.

Since Perez had a clause in his contract that allowed him to move the team into administration if they were struggling financially, he allowed an acquisition.

Consequently, the team was sold to Lawrence Stroll, now known as Racing Point Force India.

2019

The Force India team, owned by Vijay Mallya with Sergio Perez as its driver, was bought by a man named Lawrence Stroll in 2018.

Afterward, Lance Stroll quickly became Perez’s teammate.

Even though his car wasn’t all that great, Sergio Perez still dominated Lance in the standings, scoring over 70% of the points on the team.

2020

2020 started with a bang for Racing Point, as Mercedes accused the team of copying their design from last season. The team has had a rough go of it lately.

Furthermore, the year was plagued with controversy and controversy-related penalties, which ultimately resulted in them losing 15 world championship points.

Perez was the very first COVID-19-positive driver, which led to the suspension of his racing before he could get to the Silverstone rounds.

Hence, he also won at the Sakhir Grand Prix with the best scores of the entire season in 2021.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How Many Wins Does Sergio Perez Have?

Sergio Perez has three wins in total. He accomplished his first win in 2020 in Sakhir, second in 2021 in Baku, and third in 2022 in Monaco.

Q2. What Car Does Sergio Perez Drive?

Sergio Perez owns an impressive collection of highly expensive cars. Bugatti Chiron is the crown jewel of Perez’s collection, with an expected cost of USD three million.

Moreover, McLaren, Mercedes Benz, BMW, and Porsche Panamera make his car collection drool-worthy.

Q3. What Is Sergio Perez’s Salary?

According to Racing News 365, Sergio Perez earns just under $10 million this season to continue racing for Red Bull Racing.

Hence, Perez’s earnings for the two remaining years of his contract are believed to be around $10 million per year.

Q4. What Is Sergio Perez’s Net Worth?

When he first joined McLaren for the 2013 season, he had a million US dollar contract with Force India.

But by 2014, that team had signed him for $30 million US dollars, and his annual salary was $8 million in 2020. In 2021, Sergio Perez will be the fourth highest-paid driver on the grid.

Q5. Why Is Sergio Perez Called ‘Checo’?

Sergio Perez was given his nickname by his fans in Mexico. The reason is pretty straightforward – in Mexico, all Sergios are automatically given the nickname ‘Checo.’

Conclusion

Perez has built a reputation in F1 as a combat driver who loves to fight his way through the pack. He’s also known for being a bit of a wildcard on the track.

However, his teammates don’t always escape unscathed from their encounters with him.

Checo Perez is a fighter. He’s not afraid to mix it up, whether that means going after a teammate or the guy in front of him.

Therefore, he’ll get the job done and make sure his team gets points—even if it means taking a few hits himself.

Yusuke Kohara

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