Last month Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez joined a very exclusive club: 250 race starts in F1. The achievement, which occurred at the Singapore Grand Prix, has been achieved by only Pérez and 10 other drivers in the 73-year history of the championship.
Pérez’s racing career has been more complex than most. Always considered a promising talent, he got his big break when he joined the Sauber F1 team in 2011. By his second year, Pérez—also known as Checo—had picked up three impressive podium finishes. As a result, he was snapped up by McLaren the following year but was dropped after just a season.
He soon found himself a new home with the Force India F1 team from 2014 and looked very settled and secure. Checo had even signed a three-year contract extension in ’19 and was ready to represent them as they rebranded into Aston Martin for the ’21 season. However, in a shocking twist, he announced that he was leaving the team at the end of ’20 and was left without a future race seat in F1.
