Sergio Perez is a Mexican Formula One driver racing for Cadillac in 2026. He has six race wins, three pole positions, and 39 podiums across 14 F1 seasons. He finished runner-up in the 2023 World Championship at Red Bull. He was the first Mexican driver to race in Formula One in 30 years when he debuted in 2011 and the first Mexican to win an F1 race in 50 years when he won at Sakhir in 2020.

After a sabbatical year in 2025, he returns alongside Valtteri Bottas as one of two drivers on Cadillac's historic F1 debut.

Profile at a Glance

Early Life

Perez was born into a family with motorsport already in its blood. His father Antonio Perez Garibay was a stock car racer before building a business career that eventually led him to the Mexican Senate. Growing up in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, Perez was drawn to karting from an early age and began competing in 1996 at age six.

His path to Europe and to Formula One was made possible by a specific act of patronage. Prominent Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, through his Escuderia Telmex programme, backed Perez from 2004 onward, funding his move to the United States for the Skip Barber series and then to Europe for Formula BMW. Without that support, a driver from a country with no Formula One infrastructure almost certainly does not reach the sport. Perez has consistently acknowledged the debt.

His childhood hero was compatriot Pedro Rodriguez, who won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. Reaching F1 and winning a race were not just personal ambitions. They carried fifty years of Mexican motorsport history with them.

Junior Career

Karting and Early Single-Seaters (1996-2005)

Perez competed in Mexican and North American karting from 1996 to 2003 before Escuderia Telmex facilitated his move to the Skip Barber Series in the USA in 2004. He spent two seasons in German Formula BMW from 2005 to 2006, building his European foundations.

British Formula 3 Champion (2006-2007)

Perez entered the British Formula 3 Championship and won the national class title in 2007. The result confirmed his readiness for GP2 and secured him a Ferrari Driver Academy membership, which he held from 2010 to 2012.

GP2 Series (2008-2010)

Perez made his GP2 debut in 2008 and spent three seasons in the series. His strongest year was 2010, when he finished runner-up to Pastor Maldonado. The consistent performances attracted Sauber, who signed him as their 2011 F1 race driver.

Formula One Career

Sauber Debut (2011-2012)

Perez made his F1 debut at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, becoming the first Mexican driver to start a Formula One race since Hector Rebaque in 1981, a gap of 30 years. Both Saubers were disqualified from the race for a technical infringement despite Perez finishing seventh. He scored his first points in Spain.

At Monaco, he qualified for Q3 for the first time, then crashed heavily at the start of the session. He was unhurt but missed Monaco and the Canadian Grand Prix while recovering. He later said it took several more races before he felt completely himself again.

2012 was his breakthrough. Three podiums, including second at a rain-soaked Malaysian Grand Prix, made him one of the most talked-about drivers of the season. A mid-season test at Ferrari followed. McLaren, needing a replacement for the departing Lewis Hamilton, signed him for 2013.

McLaren (2013)

The 2013 McLaren MP4-28 was a shadow of the car the team had fielded the previous year. Results were poor and tensions with teammate Jenson Button became public. Button described Perez's wheel-to-wheel style as something he had "not quite experienced since karting." Kimi Raikkonen, following their Monaco collision, was more direct in his assessment. Perez finished the season eleventh without a podium and was released after one year. It was the lowest point of his F1 career and, in retrospect, the making of him. He arrived at Force India for 2014 a more considered driver.

Force India and Racing Point (2014-2020)

Perez spent seven seasons at Force India and its successors, the longest continuous stint of his career. The team was never a frontrunner but Perez consistently extracted results far above what the machinery should have produced. His tyre management became his defining skill, repeatedly delivering strategic victories over faster cars in degradation-heavy races.

His best Force India season was 2016, when he scored three podiums and outperformed highly rated teammate Nico Hulkenberg in the standings. In 2017 and 2018, an intense intra-team rivalry with Esteban Ocon produced regular incidents and regular headlines. It was combative and occasionally costly but reflected how seriously both drivers took every opportunity in a midfield car.

When Lawrence Stroll's consortium acquired Force India mid-2018 and rebranded it Racing Point, Perez remained. He signed a three-year contract extension. Then, ahead of 2021, he was told Sebastian Vettel would be taking his seat. The announcement, coming despite competitive performances, was widely condemned as an injustice by the paddock and media.

The Sakhir Win-From Last to First (2020)

Days after losing his Racing Point seat, Perez's career was rescued by Red Bull, who signed him to partner Max Verstappen for 2021. But before that, one race remained at Racing Point that would define everything.

At the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Perez was hit by Charles Leclerc on the opening lap and dropped to last place. Over the following 64 laps, he worked his way through the entire field. He took the lead on lap 64 and won.

It was his 190th Formula One start, setting the record at the time for the most starts before a maiden win. It was the first victory by a Mexican driver since Pedro Rodriguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix, a gap of exactly 50 years. He was F1's 110th different race winner.

The performance convinced Red Bull that they had found what they needed alongside Verstappen.

Red Bull-Peak and Decline (2021-2024)

Perez's four seasons at Red Bull represent the highest and most painful chapters of his career in close succession.

2021 was his introduction to a genuinely fast car. He won in Azerbaijan and contributed to three further podiums. He learned the RB16B and finished fourth in the championship.

2022 was his best individual season. Wins at Monaco and Singapore, third in the championship. He pushed Verstappen harder than any teammate had in years.

2023 brought his peak championship result. He was runner-up to Verstappen with 285 points across the season. The context matters: Verstappen won 19 of 22 races and finished 290 points ahead. Perez won twice, stood on nine podiums, and beat every other driver on the grid. It was a career-defining year framed as a secondary achievement simply because of who his teammate was.

2024 was a collapse. He scored four podiums in the first eight races and then only 49 points in the remaining eighteen. The Red Bull RB20 had been developed increasingly around Verstappen's preferences and Perez could not adapt. On 18 December 2024, Red Bull and Perez announced a mutual termination of his contract. He had signed through 2026. He left after four seasons.

Sabbatical and the Cadillac Call (2025)

Perez spent 2025 away from the grid for the first time since 2010. He tested at Imola in a Ferrari chassis on behalf of Cadillac in preparation for their 2026 debut. He described the year as allowing him to fall back in love with Formula One after a difficult Red Bull exit. He arrived at Cadillac feeling, in his own words, "refreshed and energised."

He also publicly criticised Red Bull's internal culture in early 2026 ahead of his return, prompting a rebuttal from Helmut Marko. There was clearly a chapter of that relationship that ended badly. He appears to have made his peace with it.

2026-Cadillac and the Final Big Project

In August 2025, Cadillac confirmed Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their two drivers for their 2026 Formula One debut, the first American manufacturer-backed entry in the sport in decades. Perez described it as "a huge responsibility" and spoke about wanting to help shape Cadillac into "the team of the Americas."

He has described the Cadillac project as his "final big project" in Formula One and said he has "nothing to prove." Both statements are characteristic of a driver who has carried a nation's motorsport hopes for fifteen years and arrived somewhere he can simply race. He enters 2026 with more F1 experience than almost anyone on the grid, alongside a teammate in Bottas who brings an equally substantial history.

Whatever Cadillac becomes, Perez and Bottas will build the foundation.

Personal Life

Perez lives in Monaco with his partner Carola Martinez and their children. He is one of the most prominent athletes in Mexico and carries significant national responsibility with it. The return of a Mexican Grand Prix to the calendar in 2015 became, in part, a celebration of his presence in the sport.

He is deeply connected to his home country and has spoken repeatedly about the privilege and pressure of representing Mexico at the highest level of motorsport. He holds more F1 points than any Mexican driver in the history of the sport.

Career Statistics

Career totals: 6 wins, 3 poles, 39 podiums, 260+ race starts

Last updated March 2026