MEXICO CITY — With his son watching with his arm draped across the right side of the podium at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Sergio Pérez soaked in the cheers of his home fans.
Despite Max Verstappen winning the race for Red Bull, third-placed Pérez captured the attention of the crowd after earning his first Mexican Grand Prix podium. It was his fifth podium of the 2021 season, but the first time the Mexican driver had achieved such a result at home, a significant result for both him and his country.
Now, three years later, the situation has changed dramatically.
Perez remains a star in Mexico. this remains his At the weekend, his face adorned billboards across the city as brands and sponsors preyed on his stardom. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner joked that Pérez would “endorse every product on Uber Eats this weekend, down to toilet paper”.
But right now, poor form has seen him drop to eighth place at the World Championships, and another podium finish would carry even more weight for Pérez.
“I know I had a terrible season, it was a very difficult season,” Perez admitted on Thursday. “It started off really well, but it was really, really hard. “If we get good results, it’s clear that personal feelings can change the season significantly,” he said.
Pérez arrived in Mexico without a podium finish since the Chinese Grand Prix in April. A season that started with so much promise as Red Bull looked to be a step ahead of their rivals quickly unraveled as he struggled with the car. A lack of balance that has robbed drivers of confidence this year has held Max Verstappen back at the end of the European season. It hurt Pérez much earlier.
The resulting recession put Pérez’s future in the spotlight. Red Bull saw their early advantage erode as McLaren pulled it back with the help of two high-scoring drivers in Lando Norris and Oscar Piatri and eventually topped the Constructors’ Championship. While Verstappen maintains a decent buffer at the top of the drivers’ standings, Red Bull are now at risk of being pushed back to third, eight points behind Ferrari. This would be the lowest construction company closing since 2019.
Even ahead of Mexico, Perez felt the need to respond to rumors that he might announce plans to retire from F1 altogether at his home race. During his three-week break after Singapore, he posted a video from the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ in which Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, confidently tells his employees, “I’m not leaving.”
Sorry 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/rPIHpYDVGH
— Sergio Perez (@SChecoPerez) September 29, 2024
“It seemed like every year for the last two years or so, someone would create this rumor and everyone would notice,” Pérez explained when asked about the post in Austin last week. “Dear fans, I know that many people will come to the Mexican Grand Prix to support me. They are probably expecting something that is not true.
“I don’t think it’s right to spread these rumors without knowing the facts.”
The frequency of these rumors is due to Pérez’s poor performance and scrutiny over his future, despite him signing a contract for the next two seasons. His renewal is intended to give him stability and act as an extra arm around his shoulders when his form is off. This is proof that he has the support of his team.
Didn’t achieve the desired effect. Pérez has still not finished in the top five since the deal was announced just before the Canadian Grand Prix. He was in contention for a podium finish in Azerbaijan last month, but had a late collision with Carlos Sainz to end his race.
Perez practicing in Mexico City on Friday. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
On Friday, Horner agreed with Perez’s assessment that his season had been “horrible” and said the Mexican “summed it up perfectly.”
“It was a bad year for Checo,” Horner said. “He started strong and obviously struggled for form after Imola. It was sporadic. We have seen remarkable results. (In) Azerbaijan, he could have won that race almost a month ago.
“We know what he can do. “We’re hoping to give him the setup and confidence in the car so he can perform as well as he’s capable of.”
Verstappen’s deepening struggles over the summer’s racing indicate that Pérez is not entirely to blame for his decline in form. The upgrades that arrived in Austin helped alleviate some of Verstappen’s concerns, but Pérez, who finished ninth and finished seventh, did not have the full package. “We didn’t have a good weekend,” he recalled of Mexico. “It wasn’t a good weekend where I built a lot of confidence.”
Confidence is something Red Bull have long been trying to re-instill in Pérez as they look to 2025. “Checo is our driving force,” Horner said. “He has a contract for 2025. He’s competitive. he is hungry He is not satisfied with where he is. So as a team we are doing our best to support him.”
Horner was asked how Liam Lawson’s performance at RB could affect the plans of both Red Bull teams as a whole, given he has been linked with potentially replacing Pérez if there is a change at Red Bull. I received it. Horner reiterated that Pérez “has a contract for next year, so he is now a driver for 2025.”
“There are spots at RB and they are all Red Bull racing drivers on loan,” Horner said. “We have time to sit down with Laurent (Mekies) and Peter (Bayer) and look at all the options.”
Mexico City’s fans’ love for Perez knows no bounds. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
If there’s one of the remaining five races where the energy of the event and the crowd could provide some extra energy to fuel Pérez, it’s Mexico. The intensity of a racing weekend is unlike anything he experiences in F1. He described it as “like having three races going on at once.” The noise from the stands on his first outlap at the start of FP1 was louder than most drivers have heard this season as they pay their respects. It echoes the excitement of the more than 100,000 Mexicans packed into the circuit. Noise from the Foro Sol stadium area.
It’s going to be a tough week racing at home. But it doesn’t matter how special the Grand Prix is to him. “I just want to enjoy it,” he said in Austin. “This is my ninth Grand Prix in Mexico. It is a very important race and I want to enjoy every part of it.”
The only noise Pérez wants to hear this weekend is coming from the stands. Constant speculation and debate about his future? He doesn’t bother. “You have to keep your head down and focus on what you can control,” Pérez said. “You don’t have to worry about the rest.”
Ending his podium drought in his home country would be the perfect way for Pérez to dismiss some question marks over his future at Red Bull. It will also give him the opportunity for another precious moment like the one he had with his son three years ago.
“That moment will stay with me forever. My son will be on the podium watching me,” said Perez. “It’s something I hope he will remember forever. If not, I’ll at least leave a picture so I can show him when he’s older!
“I think those are really important moments for me. And hopefully we can repeat that this weekend.”
I remember when Sergio Perez’s son met his father on the podium at his home Grand Prix 💚🇲🇽
(via rsanchezp/IG) pic.twitter.com/tsFzL1JMHu
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 12, 2022
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
