Sergio Perez: From Guadalajara Karting to the Cadillac Grid

Sergio Perez, a Mexican driver from Guadalajara, races in Formula One for Cadillac in 2026. Before that he spent years with Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull, and in 2023 he finished runner-up in the drivers' table with Red Bull. Across his career he has six Grand Prix victories.

His records are as striking as his results. He needed 190 starts to win his first race and 219 races to take his first pole, both Formula One records. The sections below follow his path from karting to the grid, with the results and seasons that shaped each stage.

How did Perez start his racing career?

Perez started karting at six in Guadalajara in 1996 and won the junior category title as the youngest champion it had produced. In 1999 he was also the youngest winner in the 80cc Shifter class, and scouts from Escuderia Telmex took notice of him.

His first karting season brought four junior wins and a runner-up finish in the category. In 2003 he won the Easy Kart 125 Shootout, once again as the youngest driver in the field.

The United States was his next stop. In 2004 he raced in the Skip Barber National Championship and finished eleventh, before a move to Europe the following year to contest the German Formula BMW ADAC series.

In Germany he finished fourteenth in 2005 and improved to sixth in 2006. A single round for A1 Team Mexico in the 2006-07 season added an international entry to his record. In 2007 he switched to British Formula 3, took the National Class title with T-Sport and won around two-thirds of the races.

Six Grand Prix wins, a 2023 runner-up finish and a record run of starts before his first victory, all built from a karting start in Guadalajara.

How did the GP2 years prepare him for Formula One?

In the 2008-09 GP2 Asia Series Perez became the first Mexican driver at that level since Giovanni Aloi in 1990, winning two sprint races for Campos. He then finished twelfth in the 2009 GP2 Series and won five races for Addax in 2010, when he was runner-up behind Pastor Maldonado.

The Asia Series wins came at Sakhir and Losail. His best result in the main 2009 series was second place at Valencia.

He was in the Ferrari Driver Academy between 2010 and 2012. He signed for Sauber for 2011 after that membership began.

What were Perez's early seasons like at Sauber?

Perez made his debut at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, where he finished seventh. Both Sauber cars were later disqualified over an illegal rear wing, and the result was wiped from the books. His first points came with ninth place in Spain, and his best finish, seventh, came at the British Grand Prix.

The year was not without setbacks. In qualifying for Monaco he crashed heavily at the exit of the tunnel, suffering a sprained thigh and concussion that kept him out of the race. He then withdrew from the Canadian Grand Prix after a single practice session, and Pedro de la Rosa took his place.

He scored points in several later rounds of 2011, and 2012 brought his first podiums. That year he finished second in Malaysia, 2.2 seconds behind Fernando Alonso after a late error at turn 14, and he took third places at the Canadian and Italian Grands Prix.

He finished the 2012 championship tenth with 66 points, and that season set up his move to McLaren in 2013.

What happened during his time at McLaren and Force India?

Perez joined McLaren for 2013 to replace Lewis Hamilton, and he left at the end of that season. His time there included a sixth-place finish in Bahrain, where he ended ahead of Fernando Alonso after a fierce battle with Jenson Button, and a fifth place in India. He also set the fastest lap in Malaysia after a pit stop for fresh tyres.

His McLaren spell also included a collision with Kimi Raikkonen at Monaco, which ended his race. He then moved to Force India for 2014, partnering Nico Hulkenberg in a deal reported at 15 million Euros. In Bahrain that year he took third place, which was the team's first podium since 2009. In China he started 16th and finished ninth.

The 2015 season was his best in the championship to that point. He finished ninth with 78 points and took a podium at the Russian Grand Prix. In Hungary that year a practice crash, in which his car rolled after a rear suspension failure, left him unhurt.

Earlier that year he had stood on the podium at Monaco in changing conditions. In 2016 he also took third at the European Grand Prix in Baku.

Force India went into administration in 2018. A consortium led by Lawrence Stroll bought its assets, and the team returned to the grid as Racing Point Force India, keeping Perez as a driver. That year he finished third in Azerbaijan and eighth in the championship with 62 points.

In 2019 the team became simply Racing Point, and Perez finished tenth with 52 points. The 2020 season began with a positive COVID-19 test that kept him out of the British Grand Prix, where Nico Hulkenberg stood in for him. He returned for the Spanish Grand Prix, qualified fourth and finished fifth.

His 2020 campaign included a second-place finish at the Turkish Grand Prix, where he started third in the rain, and then a memorable first victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix. He had dropped from second to last on the opening lap after contact with Charles Leclerc, then rebuilt his race and took the win. Mexican fans had waited since Pedro Rodriguez's 1970 win for another such result.

How successful was Perez at Red Bull?

Perez joined Red Bull for 2021, replacing Alex Albon alongside Max Verstappen. He won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in his first season and finished fourth in the championship with 190 points, matching his best result to that point.

His first Red Bull season began in Bahrain, where he finished fifth after an electrical problem on the formation lap. He also qualified second at Emilia Romagna, only 0.035 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton, and took a third-place finish at his home Mexican Grand Prix.

The Azerbaijan win came after Verstappen suffered a tyre failure, and it was secured when Hamilton locked up on the restart. Later in the season his defensive driving against Hamilton in Abu Dhabi helped Verstappen close a seven-second gap, and Perez retired from that race with suspected engine trouble.

The 2022 season was his strongest. He took his maiden pole in Saudi Arabia, won Monaco in a wet race that was stopped by a red flag, and then won at Singapore from second on the grid. He ended the year third in the championship with 305 points, two wins, one pole, 11 podiums and three fastest laps.

Why did Perez's Red Bull years end?

In 2023 Perez won the Saudi Arabian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix, took pole at Miami after a Ferrari error caused a red flag, and finished runner-up in the championship with 285 points. He was the only driver to have won the Azerbaijan race more than once.

The 2024 season began well, with second places in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and further podiums in Japan and China, but he finished the year without a win. He finished the year eighth with 152 points, and his contract at Red Bull ended by mutual agreement. Liam Lawson took his seat, which closed a four-year partnership with the Austrian team.

During 2024 he was consistently outperformed by Verstappen over the season. The 2022 and 2023 results remained the high points of his time at Red Bull.

What do his records show?

Perez's career totals show steady rather than spectacular output. He has six wins, three poles, 12 fastest laps and 39 podiums, and both 2022 and 2023 ended with him in the top three of the drivers' standings, in consecutive seasons.

Those totals sit on top of a long run of race starts. Before his first win he had made 190 starts, and before his first pole he had made 219. Both figures are Formula One records, and they show how long he waited for each milestone.

His form at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix stands out. He won there in 2021 and again in 2023, and he is the only driver to have won that race more than once. He also took the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2023, a race that followed his maiden pole there the year before.

The Mexican context matters too. He was the fifth Mexican to race in Formula One and the first since Hector Rebaque, and his 2020 victory was the first by a Mexican driver since Pedro Rodriguez in 1970. Outside the car he launched the Checo Perez Foundation in 2012, which supports orphans and children with cancer.

What is Perez doing with Cadillac?

Perez joined Cadillac for its debut season in 2026, alongside Valtteri Bottas. He is contracted through at least 2027, and he has described the role as a major responsibility.

He has been deeply involved in the team's early development, contributing to simulator work and engineering meetings as the team was built from the ground up. In partnership with Ferrari he also tested the SF-23 at Imola alongside the Cadillac team.

He has spoken of wanting to help shape Cadillac into a team for the Americas, and of the sabbatical year he took away from the sport before returning. Beyond racing, he owns the powerboat outfit Sergio Perez E1 Team, which raced in the 2024 E1 Series.

Career summary