Upon arriving at Red Bull and partaking in his first interview in team colors, Sergio Perez says the team are giving him his “big opportunity” to prove himself.
Perez has spent past seasons at Racing Point and Force India, working out of their Silverstone facility. After a stellar 2020 F1 season with that outfit, the Mexican was given a Red Bull drive alongside Max Verstappen, whose teammate – Alexander Albon – provided unflattering results.
The 30-year-old visited Red Bull’s Milton Keynes facility last week, saying while there that he is proud of his past accomplishments – among them a race win in Sakhir last year, but that he looks forward to demonstrating his skills in more consistently race-winning machinery with Red Bull.
Perez pledges to overdeliver at the team in the coming season. “I am always pushing to the maximum and last year I finally had a car that I could show a bit more and people saw what I am capable of, but now is my big opportunity,” he said. “I have to go onto the next step in all aspects and I think I’m ready for it.
“The only thing I was lacking was the opportunity. Now I have it, it’s up to me to make it work. I’m going to make sure I overdeliver. If we have a car that can win the championship, I’ll make sure we win it. And if not, and we only have a car that’s good enough for third I will make sure that we finish second,” Perez said.
The one-time F1 race winner also alludes to the possibility of more than one victory in 2021, saying that “we’re going to hear the Mexican national anthem [on the podium] many times this year I hope!’ Perez adds that driving for Red Bull is a “dream come true” and that he is especially proud to have been deemed worthy of a seat at the team irrespective of the fact that he did not ascend through Red Bull’s driver programme.
“It’s a fantastic brand. Of all the teams in Formula One, I thought there was no chance for me to join it because I wasn’t part of the junior programme, but when the opportunity came I took it. It’s a dream come true. When I put my Red Bull shirt on or drink a can, I think ‘wow, this is the brand I drive for!’ It’s amazing and hard to imagine.
“It’s an opportunity that I have worked so hard for – for more than 15 years. I think it’s come at the right time, I’m ready for that and I will grab it with both hands,” Perez quipped, as he toured around the facility and also had his seat fit.
Here’s the photos of his visit:
Here’s videos from Red Bull of Sergio Perez visit
Here’s Sergio Perez noting about his visit see his team
Here’s Max Verstappen on Mercedes challenge