By james art
JENNA FRYER Associated Press
MEXICO CITY – By his own account, this Formula One season has been a huge disappointment for Sergio Perez.
But if there’s one place he can turn things around, it would be his home race, the Mexico City Grand Prix, which he considers the best event on the F1 circuit.
“I know I had a terrible season, very difficult,” Perez said Thursday. “If I can get a strong result, it could make a big difference to my season.”
Change it enough to save his job at Red Bull? That remains to be seen.
Of course, Perez signed a two-year contract extension in June to keep him at Red Bull until 2026. But even so, few believe he has firmly held his place and can be replaced at the whim of Red Bull adviser Helmut Marco.
Red Bull have admitted that the new contract contains performance clauses, and Marco has constantly kept Perez in the rumor mill by openly praising the younger drivers. His latest flattery was for McLaren’s rising star Oscar Piastri, who was quick to dismiss Marco on Thursday: “A week wouldn’t go by in F1 without some comments from Helmut.”
Yuki Tsunoda admitted on Thursday that he still hopes for a promotion to Red Bull from sister team RB, while Liam Lawson, who officially replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB last week, is trying to show he deserves a full-time spot. Lawson was ninth last week in Austin, Texas.
Perez didn’t help matters with his own performance. He is winless for the first time since joining Red Bull in 2021, has just four podium finishes this year and is eighth in the drivers’ standings. Perez also crashed three times, which played a part in Red Bull allowing McLaren to overtake the team for the lead in the constructors’ championship race.
His fall came after a strong start to the year in which he claimed four podiums in the first five races. He has now gone 14 races without a podium.
“Momentum in Formula 1 is very important, you just put the car on the track and you know everything is working and you are so much ahead of people who put the car on the track and have a lot of problems,” Perez said. “I think it’s the same for everyone. But I also know how this sport works and it’s all about your last race.”
He is now hoping for a repeat of 2021 and 2022, when Perez was on the podium both years at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. His 2021 finish made him the first Mexican driver to podium at the event, and Perez celebrated by bringing his son with him to collect the trophy.
“I think that moment will stay with me forever when my son is there with me on the podium looking at me,” he said. “It’s something I hope he remembers forever, if not I have the picture at least to show him when he’s older, you know? Those moments, I think those are the ones that really matter to me and hopefully I can repeat that this weekend.”
To do so, he will need to avoid a performance like the one he had last season, when Perez collided with Charles Leclerc on the first lap and promptly ended his race. But he overcame that and focused only on helping Red Bull and turning his own season around.
“I think that’s Formula 1 – sometimes the results don’t come and you just have to make sure you keep your head down, that you focus on the things you can control and the rest is something you can’t deal with, – said Perez. “I feel like I’m in the same boat as the team. We found a big problem in Monza and after Monza we are moving in the right direction.”