Sergio Perez aims to raise his game in 2022

Sergio Perez wants to put in consistent performances that are on par with his world champion teammate Max Verstappen in the upcoming F1 season. With new aerodynamic regulations coming into force in 2022, Perez hopes to deliver from the get-go in his second season with Red Bull.

Speaking about his experiences driving for Red Bull during a post-season interview with Autosport, the 'minister of defence' said:

“It hasn't been easy, but it has brought me onto another level, and having Max as a teammate it really pushes you to new levels. I'm enjoying it a lot at this point of my career, I'm very happy, and that's most important. I think the main thing I lacked was consistency, to constantly be at 100% with the car. I have to raise my game for next year. And yeah, hopefully, we are all able to go forward.”

After nearly a decade of racing for mid-field teams, Perez finally got the chance to drive for a top team in 2021. While he struggled to match teammate Verstappen at times, his race-day performances nevertheless endeared him to his team.

Perez has a stellar reputation for being an incredibly consistent driver who can extract the most out of his tires. The Mexican has often been compared to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in his tire-saving ability.

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Sergio Perez regularly stole podiums from top teams

Despite showing incredible promise early in his F1 career, Perez’s hopes of racing for top teams were never fully realized until 2021. Yet he was always known for punching above his weight. In just under a decade, Perez racked up 10 podiums – including a victory – for teams in the mid-field.

When he made his debut with Sauber, Perez was part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, but chose to break away from the Scuderia in 2013 when McLaren offered him a seat as a replacement for the outgoing Hamilton.

Perez’s decision to join McLaren was widely considered the right move, given McLaren’s pre-2013 form. The season was a disaster and Perez, despite putting in some good performances, was promptly dropped at the end of it.

The Mexican’s hopes of fighting for the championship and wins seemed to be over, and he returned to the sport with Force India. Over the next seven years, he stayed with the team as it became Racing Point and scored 8 of his 10 podiums for the team.

His surprise victory at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix was one of the highlights of his career and displayed his immense talent in extracting most of the car, without killing the tires. After being tipped into a spin on lap 1 by Charles Leclerc, Perez was last and trailed the pack by nearly 10 seconds.

Still, he kept calm to bring himself back into podium contention. As the dominant Mercedes pair were disadvantaged by a botched pit stop, Perez cruised home to take his first career victory.