Checo Pérez with the 2011 ‘Red Bull RB7’ car, on the urban circuit set up in the center of Madrid this Saturday.Diego Radamés (Europa Press)
Thousands of people gathered this Saturday in Madrid to see an exhibition by Checo Pérez driving the Red Bull through the center of the capital. Cibeles, Recoletos and Colón were the scene of a 1.5 kilometer route. The 33-year-old Mexican pilot took a mass bath. A small joy considering that he is not having his best moment on the tracks.
He is going through a crisis of results in the Formula 1 World Cup that has made him move away from the leader, his garage partner Max Verstappen, that leads him by 99 points (255 to 156). In a weekend without the pressure of a Grand Prix, the Mexican took a breather and visited Madrid: his faithful turned up en masse to accompany him. Before getting into the powerful RB7, the car with which Sebastian Vettel won the World Cup in 2011, the driver received a small group of media, including EL PAÍS.
“Things have been complicated by Different factors, what has happened in recent qualifying is hard”, admits the driver, who has been left out of Q3 in six of the ten races that the World Championship has held. “In the end, in Formula 1 it only matters how you finish in Abu Dhabi [the last Grand Prix of the season]. I’m not second in the World Cup by a miracle, it’s because I’ve won races”, he claims with his mind set on the Hungarian GP next weekend
Meanwhile, he enjoyed Madrid. “It’s not like being in Mexico, but I feel at home. I would love a race in Madrid”. Negotiations to take a race to the capital point to a layout at IFEMA, an urban circuit, one of those that have allowed us to see the best version of Pérez: “Urban races are special. I think it would be good to add more because the environment is very different. I’m really good at it, but the most important thing is to reach the weekend with confidence, «he points out.
Beyond the tracks, Pérez looks forward to the future, with his family as the axis central. «I want to support my sons in everything they do, be it footballers, golfers or even pilots.» Also in his business facet. «There are many plans that excite me and one of them is to have my own brand of tequila,» says the Mexican, originally from Jalisco, the birthplace of this drink.
Pérez, who has 31 podium finishes and six victories in his career, he is the only Latin American driver on the current grid. Asked if the passport weighs in Formula 1, his answer is resounding: “Yes. We have to leave our country very young, at 12 or 13 you already have to be in Europe. If you arrive later, everything becomes very complicated.”
The reward for his sacrifice has come now, when he is considered one of the best Latin American athletes and, possibly, the number one in Mexico. “I am fortunate to have a lot of support but also a lot of demands. It is not easy to carry your country on your shoulders. Few pilots live that fanaticism on the part of their countries. Your result marks the mood of many people on a Sunday at home and it is not easy to deal with that”.
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