Sergio Perez had long deserved a shot at driving for a top team in Formula One. He finally got the opportunity when he joined Red Bull Racing at the beginning of the 2021 season. The Mexican driver made his mission to help the Austrian team win the constructors’ championship.

He came close to achieving that mission as he took the fight to the last race of the season. He also played a pivotal role in helping Max Verstappen in his going for the driver’s championship.

In season 4 of Netflix’s show Drive to Survive, ‘Checo’ revealed that he never got to show his capabilities in a top car in F1 before joining Red Bull. This statement is not technically correct as Perez was part of McLaren in 2013 when they were fighting at the front of the grid.

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Sergio Perez calls Red Bull as his big shot in F1

The Red Bull driver repeatedly mentioned that his drive with the Austrian team is this first opportunity at a top team. In the last episode of season 4, he revealed what is expected of him as a Red Bull driver by team boss Christian Horner.

” If you can imagine, I have been in the sport for 10 years, and I’ve never had an opportunity with a top team,” said Sergio.

“I’ve never had a racecar capable of achieving podiums. To be fighting with Mercedes is tremendous. Christian wants me to maximize the full car potential,” said the Mexican driver.

Although Perez is correct in assessing that Red Bull is his first real big shot, it was McLaren that gave the Mexican his first taste of driving a front-running car.

In 2013, the British team chose Checo as the replacement for departing Lewis Hamilton. But the Mexican could not deliver on his promise, as he was too inconsistent with his performances.

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But we should also consider that McLaren was not as competitive compared to his previous seasons. The Mexican did not help his chances by crashing into his teammate way too much. The team removed him after just one season with them.

Hopefully, for his sake, Sergio will deliver a better individual performance in the 2022 season to get a shot at the championship.