Sergio Perez: “Mexican Grand Prix will be huge for F1”

Sergio Perez reckons Formula 1 will be blown away by the reception it gets in his homeland if the planned Mexican Grand Prix gets the green light for 2014. After a trying first season following his move to McLaren, Sergio Perez admits that he is already looking forward to leading the team to the Mexican Grand Prix. A draft calendar circulated to teams before the Monza race had a record 21 rounds, with Mexico listed for November 9, 2014, the week before the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Perez said: "I'm very excited. It's not confirmed yet, it's just a pre-calendar but I feel there are very big chances now of this happening. It will be great for my country, great for the sport. F1 will be amazed how popular this grand prix can become...it will be huge for F1 as a sport to go there."

Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Domit: "I believe there is potential to do more races in the Americas and I believe that Mexico is in the right spot to do it. It's a stable country, our economy is doing quite well and we have drivers people can identify with. All of the pieces are coming together and I believe the potential promoters are doing a good job in trying to secure something."

Mexico last hosted a grand prix in 1992, when Nigel Mansell triumphed for Williams en route to his world championship title. That race also took place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which is on course to return to the calendar despite rumors that Mexico was seeking alternative venues, such as the resort of Cancun, to stage its comeback.

As expected, the Mexican race is featured towards the end of the 2014 schedule, but was listed before the USGP rather than after it was anticipated. The November 9th slot ensures a three-race swing through the Americas to end the campaign, with Brazil continuing to stage the season finale.

The Mexican reckoned a few flat-out months of work would be required to upgrade the pit and paddock facilities but the layout was good. "I know how good the racetrack is," Perez stated, "Obviously, they need to rebuild it, but there is time enough. They have to change the pits to make them proper for F1, and improve a few corners but, apart from that, it's just a matter of time what they can do. They don't have to do big things for the racetrack to be ready so I really hope - for the good of the sport and my country - that it happens."

Read More

In Austin, F1 Fans Swept Up In “Checomania” For Mexico’s Sergio Perez

During Saturday's qualifying rounds, I could hear the crowd chanting as I walked through the grandstands even with the earplugs in my ears to dampen the sound of the screaming Formula One engines.

It was hard to tell what they were saying at first, until their voices became louder and they competed with the sounds of the cars. "Che-Co! Che-co! Che-co!" Then a minute later, it was clear to everyone what these fans were saying. "CHE-CO! CHE-CO! CHE-CO!"

These people were the thousands of fans who came out to the Circuit of the Americas to turn Mexican driver Sergio "Checo" Perez into the inaugural U.S. Grand Prix's unlikely local hero.

Out here at the circuit, you see scores of people dressed in blue Red Bull garb because Sebastian Vettel has been so dominant in recent years. And there are an even greater number of fans wearing Ferrari red because, well, they're Ferrari — they are to open-wheel racing what the Yankees are to baseball.

But there has also been a huge and somewhat unexpected contingent of fans dressed in white or draped in Mexican flags to cheer on Perez, the 22-year-old Sauber Ferrari driver who is one of F1's most exciting up-and-comers. In case you didn't know, Perez will be racing for McLaren next year, taking Lewis Hamilton's spot as he moves to Mercedes.

Maybe Perez is not such an unlikely hero. Texas used to be Mexico until a war was fought for independence. This state has a huge population of Mexican-Americans, Mexican immigrants and Mexican nationals who call it home. And Austin is only about 235 miles from the Mexican border. Plus, Perez is the only North American currently competing in F1.

For these reasons and more, the circuit has seen a tremendous turnout of people who are rooting for Perez. I've taken to calling it "Checomania," and Austin has it bad.

Continue reading about Sergio "Checo" Perez race in Austin, Texas at Jalopnik.com!

Read More

Perez satisfied after 'difficult' race

Sauber's Sergio Perez produced one of his trademark climbs through the field in the European Grand Prix, moving up from 15th on the grid to claim two points for ninth place.

The Sauber C31 is renowned for being kind to its tyres, and it has become a regular feature of F1 2012 to see the young Mexican rise through the field after an uninspiring qualifying to claim points. The race at Valencia was different, however, in that it owed partly to problems suffered by others, and was definitely less impressive than his rise to third two weeks ago in Canada.

Like most, Perez opted for a two-stop strategy, with two mammoth stints on the soft tyres after a brief run on the mediums at the beginning of the race. For once he seemed to suffer more than most with degradation, dropping outside the points briefly before the Pastor Maldonado/Lewis Hamilton incident, though he ran as high as seventh before succumbing to the fresher rubber on Michael Schumacher's Mercedes and Mark Webber's Red Bull.

Despite though, that he was still able to look on the bright side of two hard earned points after having been comfortably out-qualified by team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

“It was a difficult race today. We risked quite a lot with our strategy and in the end the tyre degradation was huge,” he said.

“You can say two points are not a bad result if you've came from 15th on the grid, but the most important thing now is to improve our qualifying performance. I was 15th on the grid for the second consecutive race and there is a lot more to achieve if I could only start further up the grid,” he concluded.

(Via Crash.net)

Read More

Mexico’s Perez feels the need for speed

This year’s Canadian Gran Prix benefitted from a surprise ending as Mexican driver Sergio Perez surged ahead from 15th place to his second podium finish of the year.

The 22-year old Mexican phenom, known for his brash, fiery personality, returned to the podium in style, bringing home a third place finish to the Sauber racing team.

Perez said:

“It was a great race for the whole team because, after such a disappointing qualifying that we had yesterday, with so little pace as well, we had to fight in a different way with the strategy.

“We didn’t have any reference on the long runs…but I think the team has done a great job with the stop and the strategy, myself too, keeping the tyres alive and being so consistent.”

Read more on Mexican phenom driver at Mexicotoday.co.uk

Read More

Sergio “Checo” Perez is Impressive in Second Place Finish at Malaysian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso might have won the Malaysian Grand Prix, but the day belonged to Sergio "Checo" Perez who finished in second place. The Malaysian race was exciting to watch, as the 22-year-old Mexican gave his fans a nail biting performance. Brad Spurgeon of the New York Times wrote, “It had so many different levels of interest, that game of cat and mouse as Perez tried, successfully, to catch up to Alonso before slipping off the track in an error just moments after his team engineer told him to be careful because they really needed the position.”

Continue reading...

Read More

Sergio Perez and F1 rookies to showcase skills at Yas Marina Circuit

ABU DHABI // Yas Marina Circuit officials have spoken of the benefits of the Young Driver Testing that will be held by Formula One teams in the UAE capital later this year and played down any concerns regarding logistical issues.

The four-day programme, which was also held after the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi last year, will return on November 15-18. But unlike last year, the teams have one more grand prix to complete and will need to fly out later than originally planned to Brazil for the race in Sao Paulo the following week.

Last year's testing allowed rookies from GP2, F1's feeder series, to gain experience behind the wheel of a Formula One car and four of the drivers at the session - Pastor Maldonado, Sergio Perez, Jerome d'Ambrosio and Paul di Resta - secured seats for this season's world championship.

Read more...

Read More

Sergio Pérez finishes 7th at F1 2011 BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Sauber's Sergio Perez has vowed to come back 'even stronger' at the Nurburgring in two weeks time following his very encouraging seventh place finish at the F1 2011 British Grand Prix.

"I think it was a good race and a very good result for the team. In the beginning the conditions were quite difficult, but we managed to stay out of trouble. The strategy was good and my pit stops were perfect," Perez said of his finish.

Sauber technical director James Key and team boss Peter Sauber were both impressed by Perez's performance.

“I am very happy with Sergio's seventh place, so congratulations to him,” said Sauber. “It was a difficult race for him, as for almost the whole distance he had to follow Nico Rosberg. He had more speed, but it was not enough to overtake.”

“I think Sergio did a great job of controlling a race which was tricky in many ways with the adverse conditions to begin with, and then just a single tyre change onto the dry tyres,” Key added

Read More