Is Sergio Perez The Best Mexican Formula One Driver Of All Time?
by Carlos Gonzalez
This year the Mexican Motorsport reached a milestone as it was the anniversary of one of Mexico’s most successful race car drivers in history, an icon who has become a symbol of an era in Motorsport history.
Keep in mind that there is an entire generation of fans that cheered for Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Elio de Angelis, Ricardo Patrese, Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso, etc. but never had the opportunity to cheer for a fellow Mexican.
The closest we ever got was Adrian Fernandez who had an impressive career as a driver and team owner in CART and Indy but never really was in contention for an F1 ride.
On June 7, 1970, at the legendary circuit of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Pedro Rodriguez de la Vega driving a BRM sponsored by Yardley scored his second, and last Grand Prix Victory. This was the second time that the Mexican flag was at the top of the Motorsport world and the Mexican national anthem was played at the F1 circuit.
An interesting anecdote: Pedro won his first F1 race in South Africa in 1967 driving a Cooper –Maserati and when the checkered flag was out and Pedro had won the race, the South African officials in Kyalami didn’t have the Mexican National Anthem available, no SIRI, Alexa or Spotify, so when Pedro stepped up at the highest place on the podium they played “South Of The Border”, a popular song describing a trip to Mexico instead of the national anthem.
From that day on, Pedro always traveled to the circuits where he raced with a record (Long Play) of the Mexican National anthem in his briefcase so they could never make that mistake again.
On December 6, 2020, almost six months after the 50-year anniversary, the great Sergio “Checo” Perez won the Sakhir Grand Prix, his maiden Grand Prix, after 190 attempts! This is the longest stint for an F1 driver in history to win his maiden Grand Prix and to put this in perspective.
The second-longest belongs to Mark Webber at 130 attempts or almost 3 full seasons with the current 20+ races a year calendar!
What makes this special or important you may ask? Well, when Checo joined the Sauber team back in 2011, it revived the hopes and dreams of the millions of F1 fans that were expecting to have a Mexican driver back in Formula 1. Since the 80’s we didn’t have a Mexican Driver at the highest level of the Motorsport world, the last Mexican driver being Hector Alonso Rebaque, who drove from 1977 to 1981.
Even before last weekend’s Grand Prix, Sergio Perez’s career in F1 was impressive with nine podiums in ten years, for comparison, Pedro Rodriguez had seven podiums in eight years (1963–1971) sadly Pedro’s life was cut short due to a fatal crash in Nuremberg on July 11, 1971.
The difference in that statistic is that Pedro had 2 victories and Checo’s best position was 2nd in Malaysia and Italy back in 2012.
Pedro’s unexpected death makes it exceedingly difficult to compare careers equally, one could always argue that Pedro was at the peak of his career in 1971 and that he could have achieved much more had he survived that accident.
Personally, I think a major difference is a specialization, let me elaborate, back when Pedro and his peers were competing in F1, as being an F1 driver was not a full-time job. Even elite drivers like Pedro, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Mario Andretti, etc. were not racing F1 for a living. Instead, they were paid to test, develop, and race in other forms of Motorsports to pay the bills.
Pedro famously drove sports cars for Ferrari and John Wyer (Ford GT40 and Porsche 917), winning the 1968 Le Mans 24H, but he also drove in NASCAR, CanAM, rallies and he even did Ice Racing in Alaska, winning a Champion’s title in 1970.
Today, being an F1 driver is a full-time job with 21 races, sponsorship commitments, and multi-million-dollar salaries, an F1 driver is an asset to an F1 team and they will not be allowed to compete in other series.
This year, for example, Renault signed Fernando Alonso for a seat in 2021 but he had already committed to race the Indy 500 for McLaren. When the race was over, Renault’s team principal Cyril Abiteboul declared that he had been nervous the whole weekend and under NO circumstances Fernando would be allowed to compete in the Indy 500 while under contract with Renault.
So, do I consider Sergio Perez the greatest Mexican F1 driver of all time? Statistically, he is, he has more races, more podiums, and now, finally, an F1 victory. However, I believe that Pedro was a more complete racing driver as his racing record shows, therefore, in my opinion, he is the overall best Mexican driver of all time.
As I mentioned before, it is difficult to compare different eras and overall careers until the drivers you are comparing are done racing. Today, the future is uncertain for Checo as he has no guaranteed seat for 2021 in F1, he holds options for 2022, though, and who knows what he will do after he retires from F1.
Will he go the Fernando Alonso route and try other series like WEC or Indy? Only the future can tell but I am just incredibly happy to see that a Mexican auto racer is competing in F1 and is now part of the conversation as one of the most competitive drivers in the sport.
I was not born yet when Pedro Rodriguez was racing, but I am enjoying this new era and finally get a chance to see a fellow Mexican on the highest place on the podium and just like 50 years ago, listening to the Mexican National Anthem and seeing the Mexican flag at the highest spot.
Bravo Pedro, Bravo Checo!
What do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know your comments, your opinions and if you like this blog please like it and share it.
