Mexico had not had a representative on the F1 grid since Hector Rebaque… back in 1981. Twenty years later, the country was back in the F1 World Championship with a promising young driver: Sergio Pérez. The rookie did a good job with the Sauber F1 team and, as a result, will stay with the Swiss team next year.
Season review
GP2 vice-champion in 2010, Sergio Pérez earned his place in F1 with the Sauber F1 team. He replaced Nick Heidfeld as Kamui Kobayashi’s teammate. He brought with him some major sponsors – including Telmex – but rapidly proved he was more than just a pay driver.
He finished his opening Grand Prix in 7th position – a performance which was even more impressive considering he stopped only once during the race. Unfortunately, he was disqualified hours after the finish as his car, as well as his teammate’s, was deemed illegal by the technical stewards.
He was forced to retire in Malaysia after a freak accident: his car was hit by a piece of ballast which had come off of Buemi’s Toro Rosso.
In China, Pérez had a tough time and collided with Adrian Sutil. He was penalized for it and crossed the finish line in 17th place. He finished 14th in Turkey.
The Mexican scored his first points in Spain, where he finished one place higher than his teammate.
Monaco was a weekend of highs and lows for the Sauber driver. He was quite competitive and had made it through to Q3 before he had a massive shunt. He lost his car at the exit of the Tunnel and crashed heavily in the tyre barrier at the chicane… his accident was reminiscent of Karl Wendlinger’s.
The session was stopped while Pérez was attended to by the medical staff. He was then taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion. He was forced to miss the race.
Two weeks later, he was passed fit for the Canadian Grand Prix but felt unwell and dizzy in free practice and eventually withdrew from the event. He was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa. He was feeling better at Valencia and took 11th. In Great-Britain, he qualified 12th and finished 7th.
The second part of the season was difficult for the whole Sauber team but Pérez still managed to do some good races. He considered his 7th place in Japan as his best result of the year. He scored two more points in Singapore and India.
Conclusion
Sergio Pérez performed strongly in his rookie season, showing he truly deserved his seat.
However, his crash at Monaco lost him momentum and he needed a couple of races to get back up to speed. He still impressed the paddock and is tipped as a potential replacement for Felipe Massa at Ferrari in 2013.
Highs
— Impressive tyre management skills
— Solid
— Scored points in his first race
Lows
— Crashed heavily at Monaco and missed two races
— Collided with Sutil in China
Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 15/20
— D.Thys : 14/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 13/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 13/20
— Average marks on the Nextgen-Auto.com : 13/20
— Total : 68/100