Formula Three
What sport did Sergio Pérez participate in May 2008?
Sergio Pérez Sergio Pérez Mendoza ( ; born 26 January 1990 ) , nicknamed Checo , is a Mexican racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing , having previously driven for Sauber , McLaren , Force India and Racing Point . He won his first Formula One Grand Prix at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix , breaking the record for the number of starts before a race win at 190 . Pérez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012 . He made his Formula One debut driving for Sauber during the 2011 season . He took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber . Due to his young age and performance , he was referred to as The Mexican Wunderkind . Pérez joined McLaren for the 2013 season , but the team did not score a single podium finish . Subsequently , for the 2014 season , the team decided to replace Pérez with Kevin Magnussen . Force India signed Pérez for the 2014 season with a €15 million contract . He remained with Force India when the team went into administration in 2018 and reformed as the Racing Point team 2019 . In 2019 , Racing Point signed a three-year extension with Pérez . In September 2020 , Racing Point announced that Pérez would be leaving the team at the end of the season as Sebastian Vettel , a four-time F1 world champion , had been signed to replace him . Subsequently , Pérez signed with Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season , replacing Alex Albon . Personal life . Born in Guadalajara , Jalisco , Pérez is the youngest child of Antonio Pérez Garibay and Marilú Mendoza de Pérez ; he also has an older sister Paola and an older brother Antonio , a retired stock car racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series . Pérez is married to Carola Martínez , and they have two children . Pérez is a Roman Catholic . Both Pérez brothers are association football fans , stating that they thought about leaving car racing to play professionally.The brothers are friends of Mexican international Javier Hernández . In an interview in 2012 for the official Formula One website , Pérez revealed that if he had not been a driver he would have liked to be a lawyer . In November 2012 , Pérez unveiled the Checo Pérez Foundation to support orphans and children with cancer . His sister Paola was the foundations president . Early career . Karting . Pérez began his career at the age of 6 years in karting in 1996 . In his first year of competition he achieved four victories in the junior category at the end of the year and claimed the runner-up spot in the category . In 1997 , he participated in the karting Youth Class , where he was the youngest driver in the category and earned a win , five podiums and finished fourth in the championship . The following year , he returned to compete in the junior category , where he had eight wins ; and at the end of the campaign , he became the youngest driver to become champion of the category . He also participated in several races in Shifter 125 cc , and competed in Master Kadets , where he finished on the podium . In 1999 , he raced in the 80 cc Shifter category , where he took three wins and finished third in the championship . Pérez also became the youngest driver to win a competition in the category , after obtaining special permission from the Federation to participate in the 80 cc Shifter . In 2000 , he raced in the Shifter 80 cc Championship , and also participated in three races in the Shifter 125 cc category which was part of the Telmex Challenge . However , Pérez was not satisfied with the results and the following season , was up for another championship , this time on the 125cc Shifter Regional , and once again was the youngest driver to compete in the category . With all these achievements , the Mexican driver caught the attention of scouts for Escuderia Telmex . With six wins in 2002 , Pérez finished as the national runner-up in the Shifter 125 cc category , and participated in the global race Shifter 80 cc , in Las Vegas , where qualified fifth and finished in 11th place . In 2003 , he was leading both championships in the 125 cc category , but withdrew from the last seven races , which proved to be a disappointment in his title aspirations . However , he finished in third place in Telmex Challenge , in addition to winning the Cup runner-up in Mexico . In the same year , he was also invited to attend the Easy Kart 125 Shootout , where he competed against drivers from around the world and managed to qualify in first place to eventually take the checkered flag , while he was the youngest in the category . Skip Barber . Pérez competed in the United States-based Skip Barber National Championship in 2004 . Driving for a team sponsored by Mexican telecommunications company Telmex , he finished eleventh in the championship . Formula BMW . Pérez moved to Europe for 2005 to compete in the German Formula BMW ADAC series . He was allowed to live in a restaurant owned by his team manager for four months . He finished fourteenth in the championship , driving for 4speed Media , and improved to sixth position the following year . A1 Grand Prix . In the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season , Pérez took part in a single round of the championship for A1 Team Mexico . He was the third-youngest driver to take part in the series . Formula Three . Pérez switched to the British Formula 3 Championship for 2007 . Pérez relocated his personal residence to Oxford . He competed in the National Class – for older chassis – with the T-Sport team , winning the championship by a comfortable margin . In the process , he won two-thirds of the races and a similar proportion of pole positions , and finished all but two races on the podium . For 2008 , he and T-Sport graduated to the premier International Class of the championship , where he was one of the few drivers to be equipped with a Mugen Honda engine . After leading the championship early in the season , he eventually finished fourth in the drivers standings . GP2 Series . Pérez drove for the Campos Grand Prix team in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series , partnering Russian driver Vitaly Petrov . He was the first Mexican driver to compete at this level of motorsport since Giovanni Aloi took part in International Formula 3000 in 1990 . He won his first GP2 Asia Series race at Sakhir , winning from lights-to-flag in the sprint race having started from pole position . He added a second win at Losail , during the sprint race of the night meeting in Qatar . He moved to Arden International for the main 2009 GP2 Series , driving alongside fellow Formula Three graduate Edoardo Mortara . Pérez finished twelfth in the standings , with a best result of second coming at Valencia . In the off-season , he contested two rounds of the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series for Barwa Addax , ahead of a 2010 main series campaign with the team . He won five races , and finished second in the standings behind Pastor Maldonado . Formula One . Sauber ( 2011–2012 ) . 2011 season . On 4 October 2010 , Sauber announced that Pérez would join the team in , replacing Nick Heidfeld . Sauber subsequently announced a partnership with Pérezs sponsor Telmex . He became the fifth Mexican to compete in Formula One , and the first since Héctor Rebaque competed between 1977 and 1981 . He also became a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy scheme in October 2010 . Pérez finished seventh in his first race , the , impressing observers by stopping to change tyres only once , becoming the only driver in the field to make fewer than two stops . However , both Sauber cars were subsequently disqualified for infringing technical regulations . He failed to repeat the result in Malaysia where body parts flew off Sébastien Buemis Toro Rosso car and into the electrical system of Pérezs Sauber , forcing his retirement . The saw him start in 12th position and he struggled during the race as well as making contact with several drivers en route to 17th . He followed that up with fourteenth in Turkey , before a ninth-place finish in Spain – ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi in tenth – to take his first Formula One points . During the third part of qualifying for the , Pérez lost control of his car upon exiting the circuits tunnel section , swung to the right and crashed into the barrier , before sliding across the chicane and hitting the TecPro barrier with a heavy side impact . He was seen holding his hands around his head in an attempt to protect it just before the final impact . The session was suspended , and marshals and medical personnel extricated Pérez from his car . A Sauber team spokesman said that he was conscious and able to talk after the accident , and had been taken to the circuits medical centre . He suffered a sprained thigh and concussion , and did not take part in the race the following day , on medical grounds . After taking part in the first practice session of the , Pérez did not feel well enough and decided not to take any further part , and was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa . Pérez returned for the and finished eleventh after attempting to run the race on a one-stop strategy . He took a career best seventh at the and eleventh in Germany . After a fifteenth place in Hungary , he retired in Belgium with suspension failure . This was followed by a gearbox failure while running seventh in Italy , before he scored a point in Singapore after losing ninth place to Felipe Massa . In Japan he took eighth place , before a sixteenth-place finish in Korea , tenth in India , and an eleventh-place finish in Abu Dhabi . He finished sixteenth in the Drivers Championship with fourteen points . On 28 July , it was announced that Pérez would remain with Sauber into the season , alongside teammate Kobayashi . On 13 September , Pérez tested for Ferrari as part of the Ferrari Driver Academy in a Ferrari F60 , Ferraris car from the season . Pérez conducted the test with fellow academy member Jules Bianchi . 2012 season . Pérez started the season with eighth place at the , losing several places on the final lap due to excessively-worn tyres . In the second round at Malaysia , he went on to battle with Fernando Alonso for the win . In the dying laps of the race he was able to close the gap to 0.5 seconds , but was not able to make the pass as he went wide at turn 14 and fell back , finishing 2.2 seconds behind Alonso in second . Many observers praised his performance despite his late-race error , taking Saubers best result as an independent team . This drive won him plaudits and fuelled speculation of a move to Ferrari in the near future . However , Pérez later told reporters that he expected to stay with Sauber until at least the end of the 2012 season . At the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix , he qualified a career-best eighth , but finished the race in eleventh place after problems with pit strategy and also his cars clutch . He finished outside the points in the next three races – despite recording the fastest lap in Monaco , before Pérez achieved his second career podium at the , finishing the race in third place , having started fifteenth . In the , Pérez qualified in fifteenth place , citing a handling imbalance and the car feeling unpredictable as reasons for the gap to Kobayashi in seventh . He improved to ninth place in the race , but raised poor qualifying form as an issue for the team . On lap 12 of the , he collided with Pastor Maldonado , forcing him to retire with broken suspension . He later criticised the Venezuelan , claiming Everybody has concerns about him before adding , He is a driver who doesnt know that we are risking our lives and has no respect at all . Maldonado received a double penalty in the form of a reprimand and a €10,000 fine after the race . Pérez later added : Just look at the last races . He ruined Hamiltons race ( in Valencia ) , he ruined my race in Monaco by doing stupid things . I dont understand why the stewards dont take a serious decision with him . With Pastor theyre not doing anything that will teach him a lesson . For the , Pérez started in 17th position but was able to make his way through the field , and ultimately finished the race in 6th place . At the , he made it into Q3 and qualified fifth fastest . A penalty for Maldonado subsequently promoted Pérez to a career-best fourth on the grid . In the race , he was forced to retire in the first turn of the first lap after Romain Grosjean caused a spectacular accident . Grosjean crashed his car into Lewis Hamilton creating a domino effect which involved five cars . Also involved in the accident were , the championship leader Fernando Alonso and Pérezs teammate Kamui Kobayashi . Pérez took his third podium at the . On Saturday , he failed to qualify for Q3 , and was twelfth on the grid . On Sunday , he climbed through the field to second place , passing on track , among others , Kimi Räikkönen , Nico Rosberg , Felipe Massa and Alonso . Unlike most of the drivers in the field , Pérez started the race on hard tyres and changed to the medium tyres on lap 29 , allowing him to lead the Grand Prix for five laps . As a result , Pérez and his cars outstanding tyre management got him well into the points , and ultimately , to a podium finish . Ultimately , he finished the season in tenth place in the Drivers Championship with 66 points , 6 more than teammate Kobayashi . McLaren ( 2013 ) . 2013 season . On 28 September 2012 , Lewis Hamiltons decision to leave McLaren for Mercedes in 2013 was announced , and Pérez was subsequently confirmed as Hamiltons replacement . He also replaced Hamilton in McLarens cartoon Tooned . This also ended Pérez association with Ferrari , as he was released from its driver academy . In the season-opening race in Australia , Pérez qualified 15th and finished in 11th position , later describing the weekend as difficult for himself and the team as a whole . He started the from ninth on the grid , and finished the race in the same position , scoring his first points for McLaren . He also achieved the fastest lap of the race , having pitted for fresh tyres . In the Bahrain GP , he started 12th on the grid and finishing 6th ahead of Ferraris Fernando Alonso ( 8th ) and his teammate Jenson Button ( 10th ) , with whom he had a fierce duel in which they touched on a couple of occasions , increasing the competition between drivers in McLaren on the following races . After the Bahrain Grand Prix , Jenson Button said of Pérezs driving style : At the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix Pérez performed several aggressive overtaking moves , before retiring after colliding with Kimi Räikkönen . Following the incident Räikkönen said that Pérez should be punched in the face . Pérez recorded a season-best fifth-place finish in India , finishing four seconds shy of the podium , a result that left him extremely satisfied . Pérez confirmed on 13 November 2013 that he would be leaving McLaren at the end of the season to be replaced by Kevin Magnussen . On 12 December 2013 ( exactly a month after it was announced he would leave McLaren ) , Force India confirmed that Pérez would join Nico Hülkenberg in their driver line-up for 2014 in a 15 million Euro deal . Force India ( 2014–2018 ) . On 12 December 2013 , Pérez had his drive for Force India in confirmed . 2014 . In the , he finished 11th but was moved up to 10th to get his first point for Force India due to Daniel Ricciardo being disqualified for breaching fuel limits . He failed to start the , after his car encountered gearbox issues prior to the start of the race . Nevertheless , a week later in the , he was able to score Force Indias first podium since , holding off Ricciardos Red Bull for a third-place finish . At the , Pérez started 16th and after gaining four places at the start , was able to overtake both McLarens and Daniil Kvyats Toro Rosso to finish 9th . Outqualifying his teammate for a second time , Pérez started in tenth position for the however a first lap collision with Jenson Button meant an early retirement for the first time in the season . At the , Pérez was again fighting for another podium finish until the car suffered braking issues , later resulting in losing the third-place position to both Red Bulls . On the last lap he was involved in a collision with Felipe Massa , who crashed into the back of his Force India sending both cars heavily into the barriers . Pérez was subsequently given a five-place grid penalty for the next race , as the stewards decided he changed his racing line , causing Massa to crash into him . At the , Pérez set his third fastest lap of his career whilst also giving Force India their third fastest lap in their history . On 7 November 2014 , before the , Force India announced that Pérez would remain with the team for the season . Pérez stated that contract negotiations were ongoing , in regards to a further contract extension . The deal was officially confirmed at the , with Pérez signing a new two-year contract , until the end of the season . 2015 . The 2015 season started with a 10th place for Pérez in Australia , followed by a 13th in Malaysia , an 11th in China and an eighth in Bahrain . He came fifth in Belgium and sixth in Italy . His best race of the season was in Russia , where he scored his first podium of 2015 and Force Indias third ever . He finished the 2015 championship in ninth , his highest championship position to date , with 78 points . He outscored teammate Hülkenberg by 20 points . Besides the podium finish in Russia , he managed three further top five finishes in Belgium , USA and Abu Dhabi ; he scored 63 of his 78 points in the final nine rounds . In the second half of the season he out qualified his teammate in six of the last nine races , and eight times throughout the season . 2016 . Pérez experienced a difficult start to the season for the first four races due to an uncompetitive VJM09 , but scored points with a ninth place in Russia . Upgrades were introduced in Barcelona with a seventh-place finish indicating an improvement in the teams form . In Monaco , Pérez scored his sixth ( and Force Indias fourth ) podium finish in wet and changing conditions , and moved to ninth in the Drivers Championship standings . Tyre management played a significant role but in contrast to previous occasions he pitted as many times as Ferrari and Red Bull , at times catching up with the front runners and managing to hold Sebastian Vettel in fourth at a comfortable distance . In the European Grand Prix in Baku Pérez once again finished third , recovering from a gearbox change penalty as a result of a crash during free practice , having been fast enough to qualify on the front row . Despite having to start from seventh on the grid he made his way up to fourth before passing Kimi Räikkönen on the last lap of the race for third , making it his second podium in three races . 2017 . After the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix , Pérez confirmed he has committed to Force India for the 2017 season . He remained with the Indian team for a fourth consecutive season alongside new teammate Esteban Ocon , ending speculation of a possible move to Williams , Renault or Haas . He was very consistent with his highest finish in 2017 a fourth place in Spain after two rivals collided at the start , and a third retired mid-race with a power unit failure . He ended his streak of 17 points finishes as he ended up colliding with Daniil Kvyat in Monaco . He had a moment with his teammate in Canada when he would not allow his teammate through , who thought he could challenge Daniel Ricciardo for 3rd . He was again knocked out in Baku where he thought he could challenge for the win before colliding with Ocon . He finished 7th in Austria and moved up to 6th in the standings after Max Verstappen was out of the race on the first lap . He dropped to 7th in the championship after finishing 9th in Britain , behind his teammate and Verstappen finished 4th . He remained 7th in the standings for the rest of the season . 2018 . Pérez finished the first three races of the season outside the points . He then achieved his eighth career podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , finishing 3rd after an incident-strewn race . He passed then-championship leader Sebastian Vettel for 3rd place with a few laps to go , making him the first driver to finish on the podium twice at the Baku City Circuit ( in 2016 and 2018 ) . Another points finish came with 9th place in Spain . In France , he retired from the race with an engine failure . Three consecutive points finishes followed , with 7th-place finishes in Austria and Germany . After the Hungarian Grand Prix , Force India was put into administration . This was caused by a group of creditors ( including Pérez ) taking legal action against the team . Pérez said that this action was taken to save the team and its employees from a winding-up order instigated by other creditors , which would have resulted in the teams collapse . Shortly before the Belgian Grand Prix , Force Indias assets were purchased by a consortium of investors led by Lawrence Stroll , father of Williams driver Lance Stroll . The team was re-admitted into the championship as a new team—Racing Point Force India—keeping Pérez and Ocon as their drivers . At the Belgian Grand Prix , the team came back strong with Pérez and Ocon qualifying 4th and 3rd , and finishing 5th and 6th , respectively . Pérez took seven points finishes from nine races in the second half of the season . However , he faced criticism after a poor performance in Singapore . He collided with his teammate Ocon on the opening lap , causing Ocon to crash into a wall and retire from the race . He also collided with Sergey Sirotkin , an action that resulted in a drive-through penalty . He later stated that he thought his penalty was fair . He later suffered a brake failure and retired from his home race in Mexico . He ended the season in 8th place in the championship with 62 points , finishing ahead of teammate Ocon and being the only non-Mercedes , Ferrari or Red Bull driver to finish on the podium that season . Racing Point ( 2019–2020 ) . 2019 . The 2019 season saw Racing Point Force India become Racing Point , retaining Pérez as a driver . He was joined at the team by former Williams driver Lance Stroll . Racing Point saw 2019 as a transitional season , with much of the work on that years car being disrupted by the administration events of the previous year . A strong start to the season , including a 6th-place finish in Azerbaijan , was followed by a string of eight races without points , the longest such string of his career . This included the rain-affected German Grand Prix , where he crashed out early in the race whilst teammate Stroll briefly led the race and eventually finished 4th . In a similar manner to 2018 , Pérez fared far better during the second half of the season . Except for a retirement in Singapore due to an oil leak , he scored points in every race after the summer break , including a strong 6th-place finish in Belgium . Many of these points finishes came from low initial grid positions , including a 7th-place finish in Italy after starting 18th , 8th in Japan from 17th , and 10th in the United States after starting from the pit lane . He finished the season in 10th place in the championship with 52 points , comfortably ahead of teammate Stroll . 2020 . Pérez had signed a contract extension with Racing Point , for whom he was meant to continue racing with until the end of 2022 . Three days before the , he tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus which causes COVID-19 . Due to this , he was unable to participate in the British Grand Prix . He was temporarily replaced by Nico Hülkenberg . It was confirmed that he would also miss the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix , as he had again tested positive for COVID-19 . After testing negative for COVID-19 after the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix , Pérez returned to race at the Spanish Grand Prix , he qualified fourth and finished the race in fifth position . In September 2020 , Pérez announced that he would be leaving Racing Point at the end of the 2020 season . He will be replaced by Sebastian Vettel as Racing Point become Aston Martin for the season . Pérez achieved his ninth F1 podium at the Turkish Grand Prix . After qualifying third in the rain , Pérez passed Max Verstappen and went from third to second , only behind his teammate Lance Stroll , starting with full wet rain tyres and changing for intermediate tyres on lap 10 of 58 . Pérez inherited the lead after Stroll made a pitstop , and on lap 37 he got overtaken by Lewis Hamilton for the lead . The podium was Hamilton , Pérez and Sebastian Vettel . Pérez was 3rd for the majority of the Bahrain Grand Prix after starting 5th , but an MGU-K electrical issue struck with only a few laps to go , forcing him to pull over and retire the car with flames billowing out of the power unit . Since Pérez announced his departure from Racing Point there was support from the media for him , with The Race saying it will be a huge injustice were Perez not to be on the 2021 grid. . Ex F1 driver turned Sky Sports F1 commentator/pundit Martin Brundle also echoed similar thoughts in his online column review the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix where Perez finished second and suggested that Perez should be on Red Bull Racings radar to partner Max Verstappen in place of Alex Albon . Pérez won his first race at the Sakhir Grand Prix , becoming Formula 1s 110th race winner . On the first lap Pérez was hit by Leclerc and went from 2nd place to 18th and last . On lap 64 he took the lead and won the race ahead of Esteban Ocon and teammate Stroll . This was the first win for a Mexican driver since Pedro Rodríguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix 50 years prior . Red Bull ( 2021– ) . Pérez races for Red Bull Racing in 2021 , replacing Alex Albon - who was demoted to the role of reserve and test driver - and partnering Max Verstappen . At the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix , Pérez made his debut with Red Bull Racing team finishing in 5th place and was voted Driver of the Day . During qualifying on Saturday he came 11th . During the formation lap for the race , his car switched off due to an electrical failure . He managed to reset his RB16B before having to start the race from the pitlane . Racing record . Racing career summary . Includes points scored by other drivers. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress . Complete Formula One results . Did not finish , but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress . External links . - Sergio Pérezs Racing Point profile