Sergio Pérez

Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza, better known as Sergio Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2011 to 2024. He finished third in the 2022 Drivers' Championship and was the runner-up in the 2023 Formula One World Drivers' Championship with Red Bull.

Over his Formula One career, Pérez achieved six Grand Prix victories, three pole positions, 12 fastest laps, and 39 podiums. He also holds the records for the most starts before achieving a race win (190) and the most races before securing a pole position (219).

He made his F1 debut with Sauber in 2011 before racing for McLaren, Force India, Racing Point, and Red Bull Racing. Pérez claimed his first F1 victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix with Racing Point.

Pérez joined Red Bull Racing in 2021, achieving multiple wins and contributing to the team's success. Despite a strong start with Red Bull, he faced challenges in 2024, ultimately finishing eighth in the Drivers' Championship. As a result, Red Bull announced his departure in December 2024, with Liam Lawson set to replace him in the 2025 season.

Sergio Pérez's early life laid the foundation for his successful career as a motorsports racing driver.

• Sergio Pérez was born on January 26, 1990, in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
• Pérez began karting at the age of six, securing four victories in the junior category during his first year of competition.
• In 1997, he raced in the karting Youth Class as the youngest driver in the field, earning one win, five podium finishes, and a fourth-place finish in the championship.
• At 14, he transitioned to single-seater racing, competing in the US-based Skip Barber National Championship with support from Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim’s Escuderia Telmex.
• In 2005, Sergio Pérez moved to Europe to compete in Formula BMW, spending four months living in a restaurant owned by his team boss.
• At 17, he relocated to Oxford to begin a two-year stint in British Formula 3.
• In 2007, he won the National Class (for older chassis) and followed up with a fourth-place finish in the International Class in 2008.
• Pérez then progressed to the Formula 1 feeder series, GP2, via the GP2 Asia Series, where he made an immediate impact by securing a lights-to-flag victory in his debut race in Bahrain.
• In just his second year in GP2, he claimed wins at Monaco, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps, and Abu Dhabi, finishing as the championship runner-up to Pastor Maldonado.
• A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy since 2010, Pérez signed with Sauber for the 2011 Formula One season, partnering with Kamui Kobayashi and making his F1 debut at the Australian Grand Prix.
• In a 2012 interview with the official Formula One website, Pérez mentioned that if he had not become a racing driver, he would have pursued a career as a lawyer.

Sergio Pérez grew up in a family with a strong passion for motorsports.

• Pérez is the youngest child of Antonio Pérez Garibay and Marilú Mendoza de Pérez.
• His father, a former racing driver, later became involved in motorsport management.
• He has an older sister, Paola, and an older brother, Antonio, a retired stock car racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series.
• Both Pérez brothers are passionate about association football and once considered leaving motorsports to pursue professional football careers.
• They are also close friends with Mexican footballer Javier Hernández.
• Pérez is married to Carola Martínez Galindo, and the couple has four children.
• He is also a devout Catholic.