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“I don’t need to be here anymore”- Sergio Perez is enjoying his autonomy in Formula 1

Samriddhi Jaiswal
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"I don't need to be here anymore"- Sergio Perez is enjoying his autonomy in Formula 1

Sergio Perez began his career in F1 in 2011 and has struggled for most of the part but now he wants to enjoy the remainder of his F1 career.

Sergio Perez has spent more than a decade in F1. He raced for three different teams in four seasons as he struggled to find a home. He began his career with Sauber in 2011 and shifted to McLaren in 2013.

In 2014 he signed a contract with Force India and stayed with them through their procedure of selling the team to Lawrence Stroll’s Racing Point. Despite Perez’s long-term deal with Racing Point, he was dropped from the team at the end of 2020.

At that time it seemed like Perez’s career was in danger right when it had appeared that he gaining his stronger form having won the 2020 Sakhir GP.

He was saved by Red Bull when the team approached him as they wanted to replace the struggling Alex Albon. With Red Bull, Perez struggled for most of 2021 but he later found his strength in the car and played a crucial role in Max Verstappen’s title win.

He told the podcast – The Edge, “I really enjoy working with the team, to be honest. With the group of people, with engineers, with the Red Bull culture, with the brand itself, as it’s a huge brand.”

“It is a lot of work, relative to what I was used to at other teams. Red Bull is a massive brand, but I enjoy [it]. I really feel great as part of it. I’m working great with Max, with the race engineers, with all the team in general.”

Also Read: Verstappen to take part in the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual race

Sergio Perez wants to fight in Drivers’ Championship

The 31-year-old wants to enjoy the sport at this stage of his career. “At the time that I don’t enjoy it, it’s the time I have to go home because I don’t need to be here anymore,” he said.

“I am here because I fully believe that I can be a World Champion and because I enjoy working with my team, and that’s it. I’m very thankful to Red Bull for extending my contract.”

The Mexican driver further explained that working with Red Bull was more laborious than working with other teams. He said, ” it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of demand, you’re in the spotlight all the time.”

“That makes it very, very intense compared to a team that, let’s say, is not fighting for the World Championship, or is not a big brand like Red Bull is. So that makes it more challenging.”

“For next season, I want to be in the fight for the [Drivers’] World Championship myself. We start with new rules, new cars. We all start from zero. So that’s the main thing for me, to try to get there,” he further added.

Also Read: Toto Wolff explains why Lewis Hamilton is so mentally strong

About the author

Samriddhi Jaiswal

Samriddhi Jaiswal

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Samriddhi Jaiswal is an F1 editor and writer at The SportsRush. She started her career as a business journalist but soon found her calling in lights out here we go! Samriddhi has been a Ferrari fan even when her interaction with F1 was occasional. Her first real experience with the thrilling sport came when Charles Leclerc clinched his iconic victory in Spa and Monza and painted the track red. Now, a Tifosi, Samriddhi is a hardcore fan of the prancing horse and can relate to the chaos within the Italian camp and also admires Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Off the track, she finds her home in books and musical instruments.

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