Sergio Pérez: Bio, Age, Height, Record, Net Worth, Salary, Career Wins, Personal Life, Wife, Children, Lifestyle & More

Sergio Michel Pérez Mendoza, also known as “Checo” Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver who competes in Formula One for Red Bull Racing. He previously raced for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point.

Sergio Pérez won his first Formula One Grand Prix in 2020 at the Sakhir Grand Prix after 190 starts. He earned his first pole position at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after 215 races. Pérez has a contract with Red Bull Racing until the end of the 2024 season.

Before joining Sauber in 2011, Sergio Pérez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy. He achieved his first Formula One podium in 2012 at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Pérez joined Force India in 2014 and stayed with the team when it became Racing Point in 2019. In 2020, Pérez left Racing Point and joined Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season.

Sergio Pérez won his second Formula One Grand Prix at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Pérez secured his first career pole position at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and won races at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix and the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.

Get an in-depth look at F1 driver Sergio Perez’s life and career, including his net worth, salary, wins, personal life, and relationship with teammate Max Verstappen. Discover why he is called Checo and explore his social media presence.

Bio/Wiki Table

Parents

Sergio Pérez’s parents are Antonio Pérez Garibay and Marilú Mendoza. His father is a former amateur driver and was instrumental in getting his son started in karting at a young age. Pérez has credited his parents for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout his racing career. In particular, his mother has been a source of inspiration for him. She has battled and overcome cancer several times.

Age, Height & Weight

Early Career

Sergio Pérez started karting at the age of six, and he quickly showed promise in the sport. In 2001, he won the Mexican national karting championship, and he went on to win it two more times in the following years.

In 2004, Pérez made his debut in single-seater racing in the Formula BMW series in Mexico. He won the championship in his debut year, and he also won the Formula BMW World Final. In 2005, Pérez moved to the European Formula BMW series, where he finished in third place overall.

In 2006, Sergio Pérez competed in the British Formula Three Championship, where he finished in second place overall in his rookie season. The following year, he moved to the GP2 Series, which was then the main feeder series for Formula One. He raced for the Campos Racing team, and he finished in 12th place overall.

In 2008, Sergio Pérez moved to the Arden International team in GP2. He finished in sixth place overall in his first season with the team, and he improved to fourth place the following year. In 2010, Pérez joined the Barwa Addax team, where he had a breakout season, finishing as runner-up in the championship and winning four races.

Formula One Career

Sauber (2011-2012)

Sauber gave Sergio Pérez his big break in Formula One, where he drove alongside Kamui Kobayashi. In his first race in Australia, he finished seventh by stopping only once, but he was disqualified along with his teammate. Perez earned his first points of the season in Spain, finishing ninth. He showed excellent tire management skills and scored crucial points for the team throughout the season, finishing in 16th place with 14 points.

Sergio Pérez had a breakout year in 2012, starting with a podium at Malaysia and adding two more podium finishes at Canada and Monza. He finished the season in 10th place, impressing with his tire management skills. Martin Whitmarsh at McLaren noticed Perez’s performances on the track and signed him as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season.

Mclaren (2013)

Sergio Pérez’s first significant opportunity came with McLaren, where he joined Jenson Button in a car that was less competitive than the previous season’s race-winning and pole-getting car. In the new environment, Perez struggled to meet expectations, consistently trailing Button in both qualifying and races.

Although Sergio Pérez had a few noteworthy performances in Bahrain and India, he failed to match his Sauber performance. As a result, Kevin Magnussen replaced him for the 2014 season. Perez then joined Nico Hulkenberg at Force India for the 2014 season.

Force India (2014-2018)

In 2014, Sergio Perez joined Force India with a goal to prove his critics wrong. Although he was competitive with Nico Hulkenberg throughout the season, he couldn’t match the German’s consistency and finished with 59 points.

However, in 2015, Sergio Pérez improved and finished the season with 78 points, 20 points ahead of Hulkenberg. He also secured a podium finish at the Russian Grand Prix.

In 2016, Sergio Pérez performed even better, achieving two podiums with excellent tire management skills at Monaco and pure pace in Azerbaijan. He finished the season in 7th place, almost 30 points clear of Hulkenberg.

In 2017, Sergio Pérez had Esteban Ocon as his teammate, and though he initially dominated, Ocon began to close the gap. They collided twice during the season, and the team stopped them from racing each other.

In 2018, Sergio Pérez was the only non-Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull driver to finish on the podium, coming in third at Baku. The team was put into administration mid-season, but Perez was retained, and he finished the season 8th in the standings.

Racing Point (2019-2020)

In 2019, Racing Point had a less competitive year, which was viewed as a transitional phase for the team. Sergio Pérez was unable to achieve any surprising podium finishes and finished the season in 10th place.

Controversy surrounded Racing Point in the 2020 season as their car was suspected of being too similar to the Mercedes from the previous year. Despite being released from the team at the end of the season, Sergio Pérez was able to secure a drive for 2021 and the car’s similarity to the Mercedes helped him and Stroll compete for podiums.

Perez was able to achieve his first career win at the Sakhir GP and finished the season in a career-best 4th place, outperforming his teammate Stroll.

A week after the end of the season, Red Bull announced that Sergio Pérez would join them as their second driver for the 2021 season.

Red Bull (2021–present)

2021

Sergio Pérez joined Red Bull Racing in 2021 as the teammate of Max Verstappen, replacing Alex Albon. Pérez started the season with a 5th place finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, after an electrical failure during the formation lap. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he qualified in 2nd place and started on the front row for the first time in his career. Pérez won his second race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he started in 6th place due to a grid penalty for Lando Norris. In the French Grand Prix, he finished in 3rd place, achieving podiums in consecutive weekends for the first time in his career. He also secured podiums in the following races in Austria, Great Britain, and Hungary.

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Pérez had a crash on his way to the grid, but his car was fixed in time for the start of the race. In the Turkish Grand Prix, he finished in 3rd place after a battle with Lewis Hamilton in the wet. At the United States Grand Prix, Pérez out-qualified Valtteri Bottas and finished in 3rd place, over 42 seconds behind Verstappen, due to a drinks failure on the first lap.

In his home race in Mexico, Pérez achieved his third consecutive podium, but was unable to pass Hamilton for 2nd place. At the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Pérez’s defensive work helped Verstappen close a seven-second gap to Hamilton, resulting in Verstappen winning the championship. Pérez finished the season with 190 points, securing 1 win and 5 podiums, and equalling his best championship result from 2020. Verstappen praised Pérez for his team player attitude in the final race in Abu Dhabi.

2022

Sergio Pérez stayed at Red Bull for the 2022 season and signed an extension until the end of the 2024 season. He achieved his first pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and led the race until a safety car demoted him to 4th place. He finished second at the Australian Grand Prix, where his teammate Max Verstappen retired from the race, and got his 16th career podium.

At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Pérez finished second behind Verstappen, giving Red Bull their first 1-2 finish since 2016. At the Spanish Grand Prix, he qualified 5th and finished 2nd behind Verstappen again, after initially leading the race, following team orders to let Verstappen through.

Sergio Pérez had an impressive 2022 Formula One season, finishing third in the drivers’ standings with 305 points. He won two races, secured one pole position, and achieved 11 podium finishes and three fastest laps. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Pérez won his third race in Formula One after pitting on Lap 17 and managing his tires well after a red flag.

In Azerbaijan, he finished second to his teammate Max Verstappen after receiving team orders not to fight him for position. At the British Grand Prix, Pérez pitted for a new front wing and fought his way back to second place, earning the title of “Driver of the day.” He also finished second at the Belgian Grand Prix behind Verstappen, contributing to Red Bull’s fifth 1-2 result of the season.

At his home race in Mexico, Pérez finished on the podium in third place. In Abu Dhabi, Pérez secured his position as third in the drivers’ standings, finishing third behind Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

2023

Sergio Pérez narrowly missed out on pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix due to oversteer, and finished second in the race behind teammate Max Verstappen.

However, Pérez secured pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and went on to win the race, with Verstappen finishing second after starting from 15th position due to a technical issue.

Sergio Perez’s F1 Record

Sergio Pérez aka Checo, who has driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point, and now Red Bull, has had a successful F1 career to date. He broke two records within the sport by going 215 races before getting his first pole position and winning his first race 190 races into his career. Checo got his first podium finish in 2012 when he was with Sauber.

Sergio Pérez has four F1 race victories and 27 podium finishes, but only one pole position to his name. He first raced for Red Bull in 2021, and his contract runs until the end of the 2024 season. Checo’s first F1 victory was in 2020 at the Sakhir Grand Prix, and his first win for Red Bull was at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He also won the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix and the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.