Sergio Pérez, F1 driver

Perez finished second in the 2023 championship on just half the number of points of team-mate Max Verstappen, who took an unprecedented 19 race wins as Red Bull enjoyed total dominance with its RB19.Following a bright start in which he won two races and ran Verstappen close in the standings, the wheels fell off Perez's championship challenge in June as his persistent struggles caused increased ...

read on

It feels like ages ago since Perez lived up to his once-valid 'street race king' moniker and won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, cutting team-mate Max Verstappen's lead to just six points as he vowed to take the 2023 title fight all the way.His pole in the subsequent Miami Grand Prix, with Verstappen down in ninth on the grid, was a chance to underline those credentials, but as the Dutchman scythed ...

read on

Perez attempted to dive up the inside of Norris under braking for the Turns 6-7 chicane in a scrap for fourth place on lap 47 of 58.But the Red Bull driver appeared to need two goes at turning in to make the apex, with the later correction sending Perez clattering into the front-left wheel of the McLaren MCL60.Perez was handed a five-second penalty for the bash, meaning he dropped from second ...

read on

Perez was on the receiving end of a five-second penalty for hitting McLaren's Lando Norris when he tried to overtake the Briton.The Red Bull driver argued Norris was to blame as he felt he was ahead, while Norris said he was actually making room to let Perez pass on purpose, although the Mexican crashed into him anyway.At the time, Perez vehemently disagreed with the penalty, which demoted him ...

read on

Perez earned a five-second penalty for clashing with Lando Norris at Turn 6, where the Red Bull driver appeared to block off the corner to stop Norris from turning in.This ensured a frantic showdown between Russell, Perez, and Charles Leclerc - who was hoping to deliver a swing in the constructors' championship to help Ferrari beat Mercedes.Leclerc hoped to help Perez claim third in the race, and ...

read on

Perez finished second on the road in the season finale but was bumped down to fourth, having earned a five-second penalty for banging wheels with Lando Norris on lap 47 of 58 at Yas Marina.The Mexican had been set for a third place, only for Charles Leclerc to pull over and let Red Bull claim a 1-2 at the line.The Ferrari driver had been attempting to let Perez create a late 5s gap to George ...

read on

Running in second place behind leader Max Verstappen, Leclerc attempted to give third-placed Sergio Perez a slipstream in the final laps to help him pull clear of Russell, who was on course to give Mercedes second in its fight against Ferrari.Perez needed to finish five seconds clear of Russell after being handed a five-second penalty for a clash with McLaren's Lando Norris.But while Leclerc let ...

read on

After keeping up with Max Verstappen in the early races Perez started struggling to adapt to the tweaked Red Bull RB19 from June's Spanish Grand Prix onwards, with the Mexican admitting to getting "lost" on how he has to set up the car to extract its optimal performance.During his travails, he frequently struggled to qualify in the top 10 and fell down what he called a "really deep" hole in Qatar ...

read on

Having got out of Q1 in 13th, Perez was the only driver not to be on track at the end of Q2, thus missing out on a final flying lap.When he was called in, he was told that he was in P5 and that there were still four minutes of the session remaining.After a pause, he said to his engineer: "We finished quite early, no?". His concern proved to be valid as he subsequently found himself bumped down to ...

read on

Perez is coming off the back of a difficult spell with Red Bull that prompted speculation his place alongside Max Verstappen at the squad could be in doubt for 2024, despite him having a contract.Those theories were further fuelled after the Mexico Grand Prix where Horner said it was the team’s “intention” to keep Perez for next season.The use of that specific word was intriguing because it ...

read on

Although Perez missed out on a podium finish to Fernando Alonso in last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix by just 0.053 seconds, it was still his most competitive weekend since he finished runner at the Italian Grand Prix back in September.Coming off the back of massive progress he made in a mammoth three-day simulator session at its Milton Keynes factory prior to the United States Grand Prix, Red ...

read on

Aston Martin driver Alonso put on a masterclass in Sao Paulo by fending off Perez's quicker Red Bull, and while the Mexican was able to pass him on the penultimate lap, Alonso struck back on the final tour by setting up an overtake into Turn 4.In a drag race to the finish, Perez ran out of road to overtake the Spaniard, the difference being 0.053s at the line.Alonso's successful fight against a ...

read on

Two-time champion Alonso crossed the line just 0.053 seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver to secure the final podium spot at Interlagos, as Aston Martin returned to the rostrum for the first time since Zandvoort.The battling duo injected late drama into a largely tepid affair won by Max Verstappen. Ninth-starting Perez dived up the inside of the AMR23 into Turn 1 on lap 70 of 71.But on the final ...

read on

After an action-packed opening salvo, the Interlagos race fell into a mid-race slumber, but it was revived a few laps before the end by a knife-edge duel between Red Bull driver Perez and Alonso's Aston Martin.After hounding Alonso for a third place through the third stint, Perez finally found a way past in Turn 1 into the penultimate lap.But despite the Spaniard believing his podium chance was ...

read on

Alonso took his first podium for Aston Martin in seven races in spectacular style by duelling with Red Bull's Perez over the final laps at Interlagos.Perez passed the Spaniard in Turn 1 on the penultimate lap, but Alonso retaliated one lap later with an outside pass into Turn 4.He then barely held on in a drag race to the finish line, with Perez passing him right after the chequered flag, the ...

read on

The race weekend in Brazil concluded F1's larger offering of sprint races over the 2023 season, having expanded from three to six for this year.This came amid a change where the sprint would no longer have an impact on the full grand prix's qualifying order, with Saturday acting as a standalone day for the sprint qualifying and race events.However, reception among the drivers remains particularly ...

read on

Third-starting Perez had the worst start out of the frontrunners as he saw Mercedes' George Russell pull along the inside into Turn 1 at Interlagos.He was then also passed by the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who pulled off a late move around the outside into Turn 4.But Perez was soon able to pass both Mercedes cars to reclaim third by lap 10 of the 24-lap sprint, which he kept until the ...

read on

Verstappen posted a 1min10.727s flying lap to beat Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc to pole position at Interlagos in a shootout that was red-flagged owing to a thunderstorm hitting the track.While Q3 was almost entirely dry until the stoppage with four minutes to run, Verstappen reckoned changing wind conditions created "terrible" laps as grip levels disappeared.McLaren racer Oscar Piastri was ...

read on

Last year in a similar situation at Interlagos a civil war broke out in the Red Bull camp after Verstappen refused to let Perez by to score extra points.It later emerged that it was seen by Verstappen as payback after Perez’s qualifying crash in Monaco several months earlier had stopped the Dutchman’s shot at pole.Perez is currently lying second 20 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton with three ...

read on

From fifth on the grid, Perez made a good start and at the first corner he tried to go around the outside of poleman Charles Leclerc and his own team-mate Max Verstappen.The Ferrari hit his rear wheel and pitched him up into the air and into the run-off area.Perez was able to get back to the pits but the team soon determined that the damage was too extensive for him to be able to ...

read on

The Ferrari driver had started from pole but did not make a brilliant getaway, as he found himself under attack from Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Perez.Verstappen was charging to his right down the inside, while Perez had more momentum as he slipstreamed past on the left and attempted to swoop into the lead as the cars ran three abreast into the first corner.But there was not enough room for ...

read on

Perez made an excellent getaway from fifth on the grid and slipstreamed past the leading Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and his team-mate Max Verstappen on the long drag race to Turn 1.With Leclerc and Verstappen still side by side, Perez made it three-wide on the outside and collided with the Ferrari man as he turned into Turn 1.The incident launched Perez's Red Bull into the air, which damaged the ...

read on

Perez had one of his best qualifying sessions of recent months relative to team-mate Max Verstappen, finishing Q3 just 0.160s behind the world champion as the pair lined up third and fifth.However, the two Red Bulls were split by the AlphaTauri of Ricciardo, who was quick throughout qualifying, taking fourth, fifth and fourth across the three sessions.It was the first time since he returned to the ...

read on

In wake of Perez joining the F1 grid, the series returned to Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez following a 12-year hiatus.Perez has always enjoyed patriotic home support, but the Mexican audience's fervour soared to new heights once the Guadalajara native joined Red Bull and became a regular contender for wins in 2021.But amid his struggles alongside dominant team-mate Max Verstappen, the ...

read on

The 2022 event was marked by fans who had bought or been given paddock access being overenthusiastic around the drivers, and making life hard for them as they tried to move around.For this year's race, the local promoter has promised that it has worked with F1 to ensure that there are fewer people in the paddock, and that drivers have more freedom to do their jobs.The initiative has been welcomed ...

read on