Who is Sergio “Checo” Perez?
Checo Perez is a Formula 1 driver who was born in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. He started his racing career in 1996 at the age of 6 and kept on achieving victories and titles as his time went on. Although he was becoming a great driver, there was not enough money to support his career. At the age of 14, it was decided that he would move to Germany on his own to continue his career there (with the help of some sponsors, of course). This helped him move up in the junior categories and eventually join F1 with the team Sauber.
His time in f1
Checo has spent almost 13 years in F1 starting in 2011. He had driven for Sauber when he first joined, then left for McLaren in the year 2013. He stayed there until 2017, when he ultimately made the move to Force India. That was the year when Lawrence Stroll bought the team and changed it to Racing Point the following year.
In 2020, it was announced that he was going to lose his seat because Sebastian Vettel was going to join the team. At the Sakhir race that season, Checo spun and went from the mid-field to the very last place. He somehow went from last to first, however, and ended up winning the race, which allowed him to join Red Bull in 2021.
After joining the team, he lived up to his title as the Minister of Defense because he defended his teammate's (Max) position by making sure that no one passed him until they were able to get to a higher place. This helped Max win his first championship. He kept this behavior towards racing the following year, which once again helped Max win.
In 2023, things changed for him. This is because Red Bull had become the most dominant team on the grid, due to Max winning 19 of 22 races. Checo had won 2 of them, making them the only team to win all but one race.
In 2020, it was announced that he was going to lose his seat because Sebastian Vettel was going to join the team. At the Sakhir race that season, Checo spun and went from the mid-field to the very last place. He somehow went from last to first, however, and ended up winning the race, which allowed him to join Red Bull in 2021.
After joining the team, he lived up to his title as the Minister of Defense because he defended his teammate's (Max) position by making sure that no one passed him until they were able to get to a higher place. This helped Max win his first championship. He kept this behavior towards racing the following year, which once again helped Max win.
In 2023, things changed for him. This is because Red Bull had become the most dominant team on the grid, due to Max winning 19 of 22 races. Checo had won 2 of them, making them the only team to win all but one race.
Why would he lose his seat?
When it comes to racing for the best team in F1, you are constantly being compared to your teammate to make sure that you are both succeeding. In Checo’s case, he is being compared to one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. Since the 2022 season, Checo’s seat has been under review because he was not living up to the standards that Max had set for the team. Checo did what he had to do in order to keep his seat for the ’23 season. Now we start the 2023 season and Checo has won 2 of the first 5 races while coming in second for the other three. After this, the highest place he would get was third.
Some may think, ‘Oh that’s still a podium so he’s fine.’ That’s not true because Red Bull needs to see that Checo can get second and quite possibly even win a race in the dominant season of Max Verstappen. There were too many instances in which he had to DNF a race or did not even finish in the points. To sum up the ’23 season for Checo, he did the bare minimum to keep second place in the championship.
Moving onto the 24’ season, we have to see if he can succeed or not. Since his contract is up for renewal this season, we have to take into consideration his whole career with Red Bull and if he could really keep up with Max. In the first two races at the beginning of this season, Checo had gotten second place both times. At the Australia race, Max had DNFd for the first time since the same race in the ’22 season. This could have been the day that he won a race, but that was not the case. He came in 5th while Ferrari won the race with both drivers on the podium.
Some may think, ‘Oh that’s still a podium so he’s fine.’ That’s not true because Red Bull needs to see that Checo can get second and quite possibly even win a race in the dominant season of Max Verstappen. There were too many instances in which he had to DNF a race or did not even finish in the points. To sum up the ’23 season for Checo, he did the bare minimum to keep second place in the championship.
Moving onto the 24’ season, we have to see if he can succeed or not. Since his contract is up for renewal this season, we have to take into consideration his whole career with Red Bull and if he could really keep up with Max. In the first two races at the beginning of this season, Checo had gotten second place both times. At the Australia race, Max had DNFd for the first time since the same race in the ’22 season. This could have been the day that he won a race, but that was not the case. He came in 5th while Ferrari won the race with both drivers on the podium.
Where would he go?
It is still not decided where Checo would be next season since there have not been a lot of comments on the second Red Bull seat. The team principal, Christian Horner, has made a couple comments on who he would like on the team the following season. A major contestant is Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari driver who is going to lose his seat next season. The reason is that after having his appendix taken out and not being in a race car for two weeks, he won the Australian Grand Prix.
Besides this, Checo still has options, because there are a lot of contracts up this season. In the end, it ultimately depends on how he performs in the next couple of races.
Besides this, Checo still has options, because there are a lot of contracts up this season. In the end, it ultimately depends on how he performs in the next couple of races.
