Current Sergio Pérez

Sergio Perez Mendoza also known as 'Checo'. 21 years of age and 12 Grand Prix under his belt. Already has a contract for Sauber for next year, is part of the Ferrari driving acadamy, current favourite to replace Massa but what he didn't have was his own thread on Clip the Apex so I thought I'd sort him one out.

Won British Formula 3 at 18. Finished 12 in GP2 at 19. Finished runner-up in GP2 at 20. Made his GP debut at 21 and finished in the points only to be DQ'd later due to both Saubers breaking car regs. Had a big accident at Monoco and even chose to pull out of the Candian GP after realising he wasn't back to 100%. Has had 2 points finishes so far this season with his highest being a 7th place at Silverstone. Has been quite highly placed at both Spa and Monza in last couple of weeks but due to a tangle and a mechnical faiure didn't capitalise on it.

Has been beating his Team-mate Kobyashi reg in qualifying but has had difficulty translating that to the races. Sometimes you wonder if Perez suffers from Sauber tendency to try and make him do something different on the tyre strategy and whether he'd much rather just go for it and race with the pack. Having said that he has proved he has a head for strategy which could stand him in goodstead for the future.

Already impressed enough to get a second year with Sauber and is currently dueling with Paul Di Resta for the 'Rookie of the Year' award. What do you guys think of him? Star of the future or constant midfield runner?

 

[Fenderman]

My use of the word "indeed" was meant in support of your using it as a question F1ang-o. I then took the opportunity to highlight an issue I personally had with Benson's column. Oh, and I stand by my assessment.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yeah but Benson is a dick head whose opinions are total shit.....

 

[Fenderman]

... not that we would use such strong terms in public. Oh, wait ...


Just noticed my attempt to tag F1ang-o didn't work in my reply above ... it hasn't worked here either. 2 tries so I gave up and copied it from elsewhere. Strange.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Just a brutal penalty for Perez. It's amazing how differently Brundle and Warwick saw the incident. And the fact that it was Romain Grosjean involved is really no surprise, he's pretty famous for sticking his car where it shouldn't be.

Checo was on for a good result and it was cruelly taken away on a highly questionable call.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Perez said:

"What happened with Romain [Grosjean] was unfortunate. I got ahead of him, and took the corner, but I now understand where the penalty came from"

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/8/14914.html

 

[Hamberg]

I don't think he believes for one second he's at fault but arguing the toss will not help his cause so I strongly believe he's been advised to say that. If the run off wasn't there Grosjean would have hit the breaks sooner.

 

[Mephistopheles]

. If the run off wasn't there Grosjean would have hit the breaks sooner.

That's the problem with big run off areas....

 

[racecub]

Perez said:

"What happened with Romain [Grosjean] was unfortunate. I got ahead of him, and took the corner, but I now understand where the penalty came from"

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/8/14914.html

Perez has been told what to say. Whitmarsh made a half hearted attempt to defend him by saying the older drivers gang up on him, and i think there's some truth in that. But Sam Michael threw him to the wolves immediately. Great team support! What was that all about? Grosjean pushed beyond his braking point and went off. Is that so difficult to see Mr. Michael? this is your driver getting penalised!

 

[Hamberg]

He didn't push beyond his braking point he carried on taking the same line and wanted to brake in the same place as on a normal lap.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I think Perez did squeeze Romain slightly but not intentionally and so I don't think he deserved the penalty..

I don't think some of the other drivers would have been penalized for it, but like they said he has got a bit of a rep for doing this sort of thing, but not a rep as bad as Romain's or Maldonado's

 

[Hamberg]

I like your post Meph.

If drivers are always expected to allow the car in front to keep to the exact racing line then we will no longer see overtaking anywhere other than straights. How many times has the defending driver had to back out, brake heavy, lock up etc? Isn't this racing? If the rules are applied that strictly it's way cheaper to sit on a bank of the M4.

 

[Mephistopheles]

You will see some crazier driving on the M4 or any motorway I can tell you...

 

[Hamberg]

I know I'm an m4 regular

 

[downforce]

12 races down Perez has 18 points compared to the 47 he had at this point last year, not what he imagined when signing for McLaren!

or when talking about challenging for the 2013 WDC...

In fact Button has triple his points

 

[Il_leone]

What is the chance he is going to stay at Mclaren?

It seems like there are some doubters within Mclaren about his potential

 

[RasputinLives]

From up and commer to out the sport it twelve months? surely not!

As the talk is Telmex have missed promised payments to Mclaren maybe they have their doubts in his talent too. Either that or they've got bored with F1 all of a sudden.

 

[Mephistopheles]

If it is true that Telmex are missing promised payments then his seat really is in danger maybe the Hulk will plant his arse in it..

 

[downforce]

I wanted Hulk to get that seat in the first place, the telmex money was the only real plus point to Perez and if they aren't paying up...

 

[RasputinLives]

The Telmex money to Sauber dried up too. Funny how it happened when the two Mexican drivers have had average seasons.

Mr Slim may have lost interest.

The Mclaren seat should have been Hulks last year anyways.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

If Telmex don't want to play ball anymore does this mean Mexico is cancelled for next year too?