Checo Pérez finds in maturity the gasoline for success in Formula 1

Checo Pérez celebrates his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix on May 29. Cristiano Barni (Getty Images)

— Making a parallel with football, who is the Messi of pilots?

— asks Hugo Sánchez, the legendary Real Madrid footballer, to the pilot Sergio Pérez.

— Verstappen, a natural driver.

- And you?

- Cristiano Ronaldo].

He is very talented, but he works harder, more dedicated to getting performance out of himself — explains the Mexican Red Bull driver in an interview with the former player for ESPN — Or to Benzema that he improves every year.

It is also what has happened to me in my career: every year I am getting better.

In a single sentence, Checo Pérez has summed up his almost 12 seasons.

This 2022, things have gone luxuriously for the Mexican who, before being signed by Red Bull, scratched every year with getting on the podium.

In 2021, his first year with the red buffalo team, he achieved five.

So far this year, he has been doused in champagne six times, the highest record in his career, with victory in the tricky Monaco Grand Prix.

Only the most enlightened in the world of motorsport have been able to win at the Monte Carlo circuit.

Pérez's good performance is based on a mixture of factors: the maturity of 32 years, a car as powerful as it is reliable and the support of Red Bull.

The Mexican is the third largest driver on the Formula 1 grid this year along with Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and the two world champions: Fernando Alonso (40 years old) and Lewis Hamilton (37).

The elders are already the oddballs in a sport that bets heavily on the youth of Leclerc, Sainz, Norris.

Checo Pérez with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, after the Italian Grand Prix, in Monza, in 2012. That time, the Mexican finished second. Andrew Hone (Getty Images)

The one born in Guadalajara has struggled to gain a foothold in an elite sport.

His beginnings were marked by competing in European tournaments and without much proficiency in speaking English or German.

The stubbornness, and the shelter of the powerful Slim family, served him to have a place as a young prodigy in Ferrari.

From there he debuted in 2011 in Formula 1 with a Sauber.

His first season began like that of any youngster on a team battling for a top-10 finish: no podium finishes and a seventh-place finish in the UK.

However, it only took him five races to get into the points zone.

It has taken other drivers years to achieve it, such as the case of Mick Schumacher, son of the legend, or George Russell of Mercedes.

McLaren chose Checo Pérez as its new talent in 2013. The Mexican had to part with Ferrari to try to fill the gap for Lewis Hamilton, who moved to Mercedes that year.

The car, however, was an ordeal for the Mexican.

There were no podiums and he only managed to be eleventh in the standings.

From a team as historic as McLaren ended up in Sahara Force India of the controversial businessman Vijay Mallya.

With the team, he was on the podium five times in five years.

The most remembered was a third place in Monaco.

But another great opportunity did not come for the Mexican in another important team.

Force India was also a financial dud for owner Mallya and ended up in the hands of Lawrence Stroll, the fashion czar with the Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors brands.

Things didn't change much for Pérez, who dazzled with the mid-range cars they gave him.

The best of the rest, he was said to be among the experts, that is, always behind the Mercedes and Red Bull drivers.

In 2020, Checo Pérez was left without a seat at Stroll's Racing Point/Aston Martin.

Even with the possibility of unemployment close, the Mexican squeezed the performance of the car to achieve a second place in Turkey and, above all, an unprecedented victory in Sakhir, in Bahrain, where he won after going from last place to the top.

Last minute, Red Bull, threw the rod and caught him.

They preferred the veteran from Mexico over a litter of youngsters.

The bet was the best for everyone.

Pérez's first year was dazzling with five podium finishes, including a victory in Azerbaijan.

And it was decisive for his partner, Verstappen, to win the world title in the Abu Dhabi race.

The Mexican managed to keep Hamilton at bay for the victory of Red Bull.

He has placed his aspirations below the interests of the team.

That earned him a contract renewal until 2024. Now, still with 12 races remaining, he paints to break his own records and stay at the top of the World Championship together with Verstappen.

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