Sergio Pérez Mendoza (born January 26, 1990 in Guadalajara) is currently a driver for Force India alongside Nico Hülkenberg. Pérez was one of four drivers who débuted in 2011, the others being Pastor Maldonado, Paul di Resta and Jérôme d'Ambrosio. He is the first Mexican driver in Formula One in 30 years since Héctor Rebaque in 1981. He scored his first podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, after fighting for the lead with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, being the first Mexican to do so in more than 40 years.
Pérez drove for McLaren in 2013, and was dropped from the team at the end of year. He joined the Force India team and he will drive the No. 11 car.
F1 career
2011 season
In October 2010, it was announced that Pérez would drive for the Sauber team in 2011 alongside Kamui Kobayashi. In his first race, in Australia, he finished seventh, stopping for tyres only once. Unfortunately, he and his team-mate, who finished one place behind, were disqualified due to a rear wing infringement, which meant that Pérez would become one of the very few drivers to be disqualified from their first Formula One race, along with Robert Kubica, Martin Brundle, Eppie Wietzes and Stefan Bellof. It was also the first race disqualification since Lewis Hamilton at the same circuit in 2009.
In Malaysia, Pérez, whose dream season had been turned into a nightmare, was suffering even more when his car was struck by a piece of debris, damaging the Sauber and causing Pérez to retire. In China, he finished outside the points, in 17th, being penalized with a "drive through" and "stop and go". In Turkey, Pérez, who still had no points, finished again outside the points, in 14th. In Spain, Pérez scored his first points of the season, finishing 9th and scoring two points. However, this would have been eight points had the young Mexican not been disqualified in Australia. In Monaco, only 23 cars started as Pérez had suffered a terrible accident in the third qualifying session. Pérez had just exited the tunnel when his Sauber crashed into the barrier separating the track and escape road. He suffered a sprained thigh and concussion and was unable to start the race. In Canada, Pérez was replaced by ex-Sauber driver and current McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa, as Pérez was still feeling unwell after his Monaco accident. de la Rosa finished 12th in the race. At Valencia, Pérez recovered from his injuries and was well enough to race. He finished 11th, just outside the points.
2012 season
2012 turned out to be Pérez's best season yet, with three podiums, including a couple of second place finishes in Malaysia and Italy. He was the first Mexican on an F1 podium since Pedro Rodriguez in 1970.
In the former, he briefly led the race (laps 14-15 and 40-41) and lost out when he ran wide into the gravel, allowing Fernando Alonso to win. In the latter, he finished behind Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, and all three drivers on the podium were eliminated on the first lap of the previous round, the Belgian Grand Prix, thanks to Romain Grosjean's antics which earned him a ban from the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton, Grosjean and Pérez also finished on the podium together in Canada.
2013 season
Pérez moved to McLaren for 2013 after Hamilton departed to Mercedes to replace 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.
In a horrible season for McLaren, Pérez did not regain his winning form of 2012 and couldn't finish any higher than fifth, despite finishing every race of the season, while his more experienced team-mate Jenson Button finished fourth in the last race of the season in Brazil. Pérez and Button also starred in the McLaren-produced cartoon Tooned, focusing on the team's 50th anniversary.
Pérez was dropped from McLaren after only a single season for the British outfit, and replaced by Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen.
2014 season
Pérez made his Force India debut in 2014, partnering Nico Hülkenberg, who returns to the team after a year off. The Mexican became the team's first non-European driver.
In the third race at Bahrain, he scored his first podium since 2012 and the team's second podium since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix where Giancarlo Fisichella scored. He described the podium as a special podium.
Pérez was involved in a huge crash at Canada with Felipe Massa after a contact. He was deemed a 5-place grid penalty for his next race and the penalty was upheld by the Austrian stewards.
Pérez had another big crash at Hungary when he spun out at the final corner on lap 23. He later admitted that it was his fault that he crashed into the wall.
Formula One Statistical Overview
Formula One Record
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | Test Driver | ||
| 2011 | Sauber F1 Team | Sauber-Ferrari | 14 | 16th | Report |
| 2012 | Sauber F1 Team | Sauber-Ferrari | 66 | 10th | Report |
| 2013 | Vodafone McLaren Mercedes | McLaren-Mercedes | 49 | 11th | Report |
| 2014 | Sahara Force India F1 Team | Force India-Mercedes | 59 | 10th | Report |
| 2015 | Sahara Force India F1 Team | Force India-Mercedes | Yet to start | ||
Career Statistics
Correct as of 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix:
Template:Statbox
Career Results
Template:Career Results/2015| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pts | Pos
Template:2011 Results/21 Template:2012 Results/21 Template:2013 Results/21 Template:2014 Results/21 | |||
| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes
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