As the 2023 F1 season has come to an end, Sergio Perez chose this time to spend on the soccer field. The Red Bull driver was present in Estadio Azteca where his favorite team Club America took on Tigres for the final match of the season. There, Perez was able to reunite with his childhood idol Ivan Zamorano, who apparently inspired him to take number 11 in Formula 1.
Zamorano has been a monumental figure for Perez. The Chilean former soccer player has been a star during his days in Club America, and during this time he was able to influence Perez with his charisma.
Checo con Iván Zamorano.
Para los que no saben, Checo eligió el número 11 ya que ese es el número del exjugador del America. pic.twitter.com/uoHTPbH8iQ
— valeria. ✧･ﾟ (@checolover111) December 18, 2023
Admittedly, Zamorano also played in renowned European Soccer clubs such as Real Madrid, and Inter Milan, and all of these inspired the Red Bull star so much that he decided to take 11, the number Zamorano used, as his racing number.
On this, he once said in a video on social media as per ESPN, “I used to admire a footballer [soccer player]. His name is Iván Zamorano, he had number eleven and when I was karting I said, ‘I also want that number,’ I have always used the ’11′”. Admittedly, the F1 driver also has his email ID starting with 11.
Coming in 2023, Perez met with Zamorano and the duo hugged each other with smiles. Zamorano was present in the final match of the Club America, a day when the Mexican club lifted the league title after beating Tigres 3-0. Interestingly, Zamorano is the only idol of Perez as he doesn’t have any idol from his sport.
When did Perez and Zamorano meet earlier?
Apart from the recent meet, Sergio Perez met with Ivan Zamorano in 2017 when the former was a Racing Point driver. The duo exchanged their jerseys together and it was a dream come true moment for the 33-year-old.
As Perez chose his racing number after he got inspired by Zamorano, there are other stories of how different F1 drivers chose their numbers. For example, Pierre Gasly, who chose his number after Zinedine Zidane inspired him.
Yes! Sergio Perez is a fan of Club America in Mexico and said he chose #11 as his driver number because that’s the number Zamorano had back at Club America. pic.twitter.com/EHEsXkOj6c
— Inter Worldwide (@interww) April 25, 2022
The Alpine driver dons number 10 as his racing number, the same number Zidane used in his national colors in soccer. Apart from Gasly, there are also Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen who have a history behind their racing numbers.
Hamilton chose 44 as his number as this number was in his father’s Vauxhall Cavalier’s license plate. As for Verstappen, he wanted to use the number 3, but he couldn’t as his then-teammate Daniel Ricciardo was already using it in 2016. Therefore, he switched to 33 to double the luck. Nevertheless, Verstappen now uses 1 as he is the defending champion.
