Sergio Perez believes that he has not always been taken seriously during his career, and feels that he has sometimes received more criticism than other drivers. The Red Bull driver achieved his fourth win in F1 at the Singapore Grand Prix and currently sits third in the World Championship standings, just two points behind second-placed Charles Leclerc. However, Perez thinks that any errors he makes tend to face a lot of judgement, and has voiced concerns that being from a Latin background may have influenced this. "Whenever you have a bad race or a little bit of a bad patch, as any other driver, sometimes with the Latin drivers you can hear a bit more criticism. When there's only been a few races, you know?" Perez told media. "It's not like the year has gone [badly] – you see it with other drivers, that they have similar issues, and it's hardly being talked about. So, sometimes I feel that way. I felt that way throughout my career. "I think it was worth pointing it out but, at the same time, it's the beauty of our sport, to have that [sparring with the media]. "Together with the media we are a great sport, and as a sportsman you always get that sort of motivation from here and there. It's absolutely nothing more than that."
Perez suggests he has not always been taken seriously
Perez feels that, at various points during his career, his efforts have not always been fully appreciated, though he admits that it has been positive to be able to prove any doubters wrong. "I just felt like sometimes you are not taken seriously," the 32-year-old said. "Sometimes people say, 'Well, he's just a Mexican, he's lazy, his culture’ and so on. And it's like, just because you are Mexican, you are not able to compete with the best people in the world? "Sometimes I felt that [was the attitude towards me], especially in the early years. But on the other hand it’s always nice to prove that anyone can be up there."
How Perez hopes to inspire the next generation
With Perez having built a long career in F1 – with his debut occurring back in 2011 – the Mexican hopes that he has inspired the next generation along the way. "That would be amazing. Just to show the young generation that you can come from Mexico and go all the way to the top," he explained. "You have to come at a very young age to Europe, first of all. To be able to race with the best drivers, with the similar weather conditions, all these sorts of things that you only get in Europe, not anywhere else. "Just to believe in themselves, and that they can do even a better job than what I'm doing here. I really hope this encourages more Mexicans to do it."
Most read
