Two days after winning the biggest event of his Formula One career, Sergio “Checo” Perez has another two reasons to celebrate after signing a two-year contract extension to remain with Oracle Red Bull Racing, a new deal that will launch in 2023.
The 32-year-old Perez from Guadalajara, Mexico, is currently in his second full-time campaign with Oracle Red Bull Racing, where he is coming off his first victory of the 2022 Formula One season at Circuit de Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix. To go along with Monaco victory, he has achieved three runner-up results and is currently in third place in the drivers’ championship standings, where he trails teammate Max Verstappen by 15 points.
“For me, this has been an incredible week, winning the Monaco Grand Prix is a dream for any driver and then to follow that with announcing I will continue with the Team until 2024 just makes me extremely happy,” Perez said. “I am so proud to be a member of this Team and I feel completely at home here now. We are working very well together and my relationship with Max, on and off the track, is definitely helping drive us forward even more. We have built tremendous momentum as a Team and this season is showing that, I am excited to see where that can take us all in the future.”
Perez joined Red Bull Racing in 2021 following a seven-year run with Racing Point that was renamed from Force India during the midway point of the 2018 F1 season. Six races with his new team, he notched his first victory of the season and the second of his F1 career at the Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix following a two-lap shootout. He went on to achieve four additional podium results, all third-place finishes, and a total of 16 top-10 points-paying results throughout the 22-race schedule before finishing in a career-best fourth place in the 2021 drivers’ championship standings.
The 2022 season marks Perez’s 12th season in F1 competition in a career highlighted with previous starts with Sauber, McLaren and Racing Point. Making his F1 debut in 2011 with Sauber, he achieved his maiden podium result during the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit after finishing in second place behind Fernando Alonso. Eight year later, he rallied from an opening lap collision that dropped him to last place to score his maiden F1 victory at Bahrain International Circuit for the Sakhir Grand Prix. By then, he became the first Mexican competitor to win in F1 since Pedro Rodriguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix and he recorded the first victory for Racing Point that has been rebranded as the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team.
Through May 2022, Perez has achieved three career victories, one pole, 19 podium results, 165 laps led, an average-finishing result of 9.7 and 1,006 points in 220 career starts in Formula One. His three victories make him the most successful Mexican competitor in F1 competition.
“Since joining Oracle Red Bull Racing, Checo has done a fantastic job,” Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, said. “Time and again he has proved himself to not only be a magnificent team player but as his level of comfort has grown he has become a real force to be reckoned with at the sharp end of the grid. This year he has taken another step and the gap to World Champion Max has closed significantly, evidenced by his superb pole position in Jeddah earlier this year and by his wonderful win in Monaco just last weekend. For us, holding onto his pace, race craft and experience was a no-brainer and we are delighted that Checo will continue to race for the team until 2024. In partnership with Max we believe we have a driver pairing that can bring us the biggest prizes in F1.”
Perez’s extension with Red Bull Racing finalizes the team’s driver lineup for the next few seasons, with Verstappen, the reigning Formula One champion, inking a five-year contract extension in March to remain with Red Bull through 2028.
With their futures set, both Perez and Verstappen set their focus for the next scheduled Formula One event at the Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will occur on June 12.
