With pressure mounting on Sergio Perez amid his recent struggles, his father, Antonio Perez Garibay, shared a motivational post on social media. Garibay reminded his son of the dark times he had faced during his karting days and the resilience it took to overcome them, leading him to reach F1—the pinnacle of motorsport.
After Perez’s disastrous home race in Mexico City, Garibay took to Instagram, writing,
“Thank you Checo Perez today. You are the most known Mexican on the planet. You have to be very proud of what you have accomplished. Always remember that the worst race of your life was in Mexico when you were 12 years old and they kicked you out of the kartism of your country“.
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Garibay was reminding Perez that his journey to the top had never been easy. Getting to F1 is always a huge deal, and for Perez to overcome his difficulties to become his country’s most successful driver in the sport is commendable enough.
He expressed unwavering support for his son, vowing to stand by him despite the criticism the 34-year-old has been facing. He encouraged Perez to be proud of what he has “accomplished” and shared his belief that “the best is yet to come” for him.
Garibay’s public support for his son came at a time when several media reports claimed that the Guadalajara-born driver was close to being sacked. The rumors intensified following his dismal outing in front of home fans last weekend.
Perez’s horror run continues
In 2023, Perez suffered a heartbreak in the opening lap of the Mexico City GP, as he crashed out. This year, after what had been a truly woeful campaign up until then, he was hoping to use his home race as a launchpad for redemption.
Unfortunately, things went off to a horrible start for Perez, as he got knocked out of Q1 on Saturday, earning an 18th place start for the Grand Prix.
With him starting at the back, it was always going to be difficult to get into the points. However, he gave the cheering Mexico City fans some hope when he made up five places at the start. Unfortunately, he got off the line rather quickly, which earned him a five-second penalty. A true disaster.
Lawson overtaking Perez in his home race and showing him the middle finger pic.twitter.com/04fJHYG972
— Ferran West (@ferranwest) October 27, 2024
He had to reset, and tried working his way up the field again, which proved to be very difficult because of Liam Lawson, an RB driver out of all people. Why is that interesting? Because Lawson has been tipped to replace the 34-year-old next year.
Perez had a scrappy duel with Lawson, who collided with the Red Bull driver on multiple occasions as a result of which he suffered heavy damage on his RB20.
Perez finished P17 in the end, last out of all active runners — a nightmare outing in front of friends and family.
