Red Bull’s Sergio Perez once again finished P3 at his home race in Mexico in front of his ever-enthusiastic Mexican fans. The home hero was greeted with loud cheers throughout the weekend but the same did not follow for his father, Antonio Perez Garibay.
It turns out Perez Sr, who fails to bat an eye whenever it comes to supporting his son or waving the Mexican flag, is not well-received by the crowd. The dislike goes to an extent that he was booed by the crowd at his son’s home race.
After the race ended and Lewis Hamilton stepped in front of the camera a loud whirl of disapproval was heard around the circuit. At first, it was assumed that this contempt was aimed at the 7-time world champion.
Perez standing right behind Hamilton even wagged his finger towards the crowd to stop them from booing the Mercedes star.
But as per GPBlog, word out of Mexico now is that the boos were not aimed at Hamilton at all. Instead, it was for Perez Sr as Mexican fans have clarified on Twitter.
Also Read: British media bashes Max Verstappen for playing victim against Ted Kravitz
Why is Perez Sr hated among Mexican fans?
Perez Garibay appears to be a jolly father, cheering his son and hanging out with Anthony Hamilton (Lewis Hamilton’s father). However, aside from that, he is also a renowned politician in Mexico and one who is not liked by the population.
He is linked to the ruling leftist NGM party of the Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The president has been in power since 2018 and had made promises of tackling corruption and working on curbing the power of drug cartels.
But a section of the Mexicans feels that his governance has not been successful in doing so and therefore dislikes his regime. The poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has ignited the rage among the population even more.
Perez Sr who became a Member of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies in 2021 said that he was a soldier of the President, in a recent interview. He stated that if the President asks him to resign he would gladly do so for him.
Statements of these kinds have put the Red Bull driver’s father at par with the President and thus is disliked by the Mexican population.
Red Bull is caught in the crossfire
The Red Bull F1 team has placed itself independent of such debates and discussions but it often sees a controversial politician making regular appearances at the race in the Red Bull garage.
Earlier this year, the team had turned off the comments on one of their posts about Perez and his father because of hate messages.
People believe that Perez Sr wants to use his son’s reputation to his own advantage. There are also whispers that Perez Sr is planning to make a bid for the presidency in the 2024 elections.
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton urges fans to get off Twitter to protect their mental health
