There is one person in the Formula One paddock that has always interested me, and that is none other than the Mexican himself, Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez.
Perez has had a mixed career, but these past couple of years have seen him shine with the Force India team, constantly out-driving the Force India car that never had the pace of a podium-challenging car on its own.
With Checo it became a solid contender.
Originally entering Formula One in 2011 with Sauber as a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy with a colder reception as a result of his ‘pay driver’ standing in the paddock, Sergio had a tough first season, with large injuries from Monaco that played their fair part in him finishing the season with only half of his teammate s points.
Nonetheless, Sauber kept him on for 2012, and Checo delivered for a good two thirds of the season, with a great performance against Fernando Alonso in the wet, as well as a couple of podiums. This prompted McLaren to sign him, but for the last six or so races, he struggled to score a point.
This form unfortunately stuck with him in 2013, and he became known as an extremely aggressive driver, with Jenson Button saying ‘I’m not used to driving down the straight and then my teammate coming along and wiggling his wheels at me and banging wheels with me at 300km/h’. He eventually finished 24 points behind teammate Jenson Button, and McLaren were quick to find a replacement for the Mexican.
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Force India signed Sergio in 2014 and he got a podium in Bahrain, but he still finished 37 points behind German teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
He was resigned with the Indian team for 2015, and he had an incredible season with a return to the form that he had mid-2012 that saw him finish 20 points ahead of his teammate.
For 2016 he had a great season in a fantastic car that saw him finish three times on the podium and beat his teammate Hulkenberg again with 29-point difference at the end of the season.
2017 has seen him re-sign with Force India, and so far so good. The car looks strong enough and Sergio looks mighty quick, but eventually he’ll have to leave the team for some better championship hopes, right?
The biggest issue with Perez is his sudden dips in form, and that he’s only really been consistent in 2015 and 2016. This inconsistency makes him a great risk for teams, but maybe in another season if he really manages to pull off some great racing then he could be looking at some better teams.
Ferrari should have a seat open for next year with Raikkonen most likely leaving the Scuderia, and a number of drivers could be looking at the seat, those being possibly Romain Grosjean, Dan Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, or others such as Perez. I don’t think he would go there, but there is a slim chance something could happen.
Williams would most likely be due for a shakeup in 2018, with Filipe Massa most likely retiring and Lance Stroll also leaving as judging by the beginning of the season, they won’t be keeping him on for long. Force India and Williams are both heavily affiliated with Mercedes which makes the move easier for Perez, so if the opportunity arises I wouldn’t count him out of being in the Williams next year.
I don’t really see much else happening to Perez, and I feel that if he wants to go anywhere else, consistency is going to be his key to getting in a seat in a team that’s higher up the grid.
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