© Vladimir RysCheco’s Top Five Moments As A BullEveryone loves Checo, no more so than the Team at Oracle Red Bull Racing. Here are five of our favourite moments from the Mexican Minister of Defence.
QuiterightlySergio‘Checo’PerezhassignedanewcontractwithOracleRedBullRacing.WhenyoufindagemlikeCheco,youwanttokeepholdofitandshowitoff.
The Mexican is an extremely experienced Formula One driver and now that he’s in a Team and car that he can win in, he’s really proving his mettle. He’s won the hearts of the entire Team, and you the fans, and with just one full season and seven races as a Bull, we wanted to look back at some of our favourite moments from his time with Oracle Red Bull Racing. And with the news that Checo has committed himself to the Team until 2024, we know there’s many more moments to come.uite rightly Sergio Perez has signed a new contract with Oracle Red Bull Racing. When you find a gem like Checo, you want to keep hold of it and show it off.
It’s fresh in the memory, but in a race that’s often called a ‘procession’ by some, Checo proved that Monaco can be a thrilling race.
The Mexican took the lead on lap-21, but there was plenty more drama to come. The rain-delayed race was then red flagged on lap 30 when Mick Schumacher crashed into the barrier damaging it.
This gave the Team a chance to change the wheels and opted to put Checo on the mediums. The race was then going to be a timed ending, but it turned out there were 34 laps remaining. The track was clean due to the rain, meaning that his tyres had the potential to grain quite early.
Checo managed to build up a lead of more than two seconds over Carlos Sainz who was in P2. With 10 minutes left on the clock, that lead had diminished to next to nothing, but the battle-hardened Checo knows how to defend a position and that’s exactly what he did, holding off the attacking Sainz to take the chequered flag. Checo is well and truly in the history books as the first Mexican to win the Monaco Grand Prix and also become the most successful Mexican driver in Formula One.
The Latest In A Long Line Of Unforgettable Moments With Checo© Getty Images
BecomingTheMexicanMinisterOfDefence
Everyone knows that when it comes to teammates, you want Checo in the garage next to you. He proved that many times in the 2021 season. But it was last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi where Checo got his latest nickname: The Mexican Minister Of Defence.
Max had pitted on lap 13 of the race, and Mercedes brought in Lewis Hamilton the following lap for hard tyres.
Lewis returned to the track in P2, 11 seconds behind the race leader Checo. The championship was on the line, so Checo knew he had to hold off Lewis for as long as possible to give his teammate the best opportunity to take the crown.
The Mercedes driver closed the gap over the next six laps and with DRS support he attacked on the pit straight, passing the Mexican with apparent ease. Checo was not easily dismissed, however, and in the following DRS zone he powered back past Hamilton to reclaim the lead. Checo’s brilliant defence was all the time allowing Max to churn through his own deficit to Hamilton. And when the Mercedes finally made it past Sergio under DRS on the next lap, Checo gave Max a quick tow and then moved aside to let Max power through into second place behind Hamilton once more. And the rest is history!
The Mexican Minister Of Defence At Work In Abu Dhabi© Getty Images
ClaimingHisFirstPoleAfter218Races
Checo claimed his first career pole in Saudi Arabia back in March this year. Checo had competed in 217 races prior to this round and although he’d been close, he’d never secured a pole position.
After the first runs in Q3, Checo was sitting in third, behind the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. In the final runs, Checo was behind both Leclerc and Sainz. Leclerc, first set the high benchmark of 1:28.225. Sainz, who was following his teammate, couldn’t find an improvement and had to rely on his opening time. Checo, though, was flying on his last attempt and when he crossed the line, he stopped the clock at 1:28.200, just 0.025s ahead of the Ferrari to claim the first pole position of his F1 career.
Vamos Checo!
Sergio Pérez - The First Ever Mexican Driver On Pole Position© Getty Images
When Checo joined Oracle Red Bull Racing he was exceptionally honest saying it would take six races for him to be competitive in the car.
His sixth race in the RB16B was Baku, and we all know what happened there. And Checo is nothing if not humble. After his first win for the Team he said: “We love Baku! It feels amazing to get my first win with Red Bull. The Team did a tremendous job and I want to thank Mr Mateschitz for this great opportunity and giving me the seat.”
If you can’t remember the race, Max was leading when he had a tyre failure causing a red flag. Checo was in P2 at the time and therefore promoted to P1 for the restart with just two laps remining.
Checo nearly lost it in the restart though after the red flag, saying: "Everything worked perfectly today apart from the restart at the end where I just had no grip. I thought I cannot lose this race two laps from the flag so I broke as late as I could into turn one and then I saw Lewis locking up and go straight on into the run off. It just shows how on the limit we are, the speeds we are doing are tremendous. We have to enjoy today, our pace was great and we have a very good race car.”
An Unforgettable Moment - Checo's First Win As A Bull© Getty Images
From the moment Checo arrived in Mexico for the Mexican Grand Prix, the atmosphere was electric. There were so many Checo fans in Red Bull Racing teamwear that it was a sea of blue everywhere he went and Sergio delivered on race day.
It was another example of how Checo can master his tyres and get the most out of them. When he left the pits for the final time, he was 9.9 seconds behind Hamilton in P2 and was furiously eating into that deficit as the laps counted down.
On the final lap he was close to taking Hamilton for P2, but the Mercedes driver was able to hold on and Checo had to settle for P3 – but that didn’t matter to the crowd.
By claiming third, Checo became the first Mexican driver in the sport’s history to claim a podium at his home race, especially when a visibly emotional Checo stood on the podium with his children watching on. It’s another reason everyone loves Checo.
There are so many more moments we could’ve mentioned, but with Sergio signed up until 2024, we know there’ll be plenty more features on how awesome the Mexican Bull is!
History Is Made - The First Ever Mexican Driver To Claim A Home Race Podium© Getty Images
