Sergio Perez: the last chance for that dream called F1

Twenty-year-old Mexican Sergio Perez, supported by Carlos Slim, recently announced that if he hadn't been called up by Sauber for 2011, he would most likely have abandoned his dream of making it in F1.

For Perez, next season would be his third in a row in GP2, and he finished the current season second in the overall standings behind Pastor Maldonado, with quite a bit of psychological pressure.

“I was contacted by some F1 teams when I was fourth or fifth in the standings and Carlos Slim was very clear with me: he told me that if I hadn't become world champion, finding a place in F1 would have been complicated to say the least.”

Perez also addressed the money-Formula 1 issue that grips and relegates young and promising drivers who do not have an influential fortune at their disposal.

“F1 is a big money market and we noticed that there was great interest in the Mexican economy and that certainly didn't penalize me. I proved that I am a good driver, that I deserve this place and that I don't owe anything to anyone."

Eleonora Ottonello