Why Sergio Perez means so much to Mexico as he celebrates his 300th Grand Prix

There are few places where Sergio Perez’s popularity is as obvious as the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. And this weekend, as Mexico City celebrates its Grand Prix alongside Día de Muertos, the home favourite returns to mark another milestone: his 300th Grand Prix.

When Checo leaves the pit lane, it will be his 10th home race and his first in Cadillac colours. Results have been hard to come by for F1’s newest team, but that is unlikely to diminish the reception for a driver who has become one of Mexico’s biggest motorsport figures.

The sound of home

When Perez arrives at the Autodromo, attention follows him everywhere. Inside the Foro Sol, the old baseball stadium incorporated into the circuit, the reception can be deafening. Checo has said himself that he can hear the crowd and feel the cheers from the cockpit.

In 2021, racing alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull, he finished third to become the first Mexican driver to stand on the podium at his home Grand Prix. He ended up wrapped in the flag while the whole Foro Sol chanted his name.

A year later, he was third again, before the heartbreak of 2023, when a first-lap collision with Charles Leclerc ended his race. Now at Cadillac, a home podium may be a long shot, but his supporters are no less committed.

From Guadalajara to his 300th race in F1

Perez's career has taken him around the world, but it is rooted in Mexico. Some time ago, on a kart track in Guadalajara, a six-year-old Checo was often the youngest in his class but never the slowest.

At 14, he headed for Germany to race in Formula BMW, alone in a country that was nothing like home. Homesickness hit hard, but he decided to give his career everything, convinced that going home would mean never leaving again.

Within a decade, he became the first Mexican on the F1 grid in over 30 years, following in the footsteps of Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, the brothers after whom the Mexico City circuit is named.

Making history for Mexico

Perez made his F1 debut with Sauber in 2011, becoming the first Mexican driver on the grid in more than 30 years. After spells with McLaren, Force India and Racing Point, his breakthrough victory finally came at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.

Now after a year out, he’s with Cadillac, signed until at least the end of 2029, and heading home to look back on every step that led to this 300th race.

Five more wins followed with Red Bull, making him the most successful Mexican driver in F1 history, while he also twice stood on the podium at his home Grand Prix. Alongside Max Verstappen, he helped Red Bull secure back-to-back Teams’ Championships.

A hero beyond the circuit

Mexico’s affection for Perez stretches far beyond the circuit. His image has become part of the landscape, painted on walls from Mexico City to Nuevo Leon as a reflection of the pride surrounding the country’s most successful F1 driver.

At the entrance to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, artist Duek Glez has immortalised Checo in graffiti, while in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighbourhood, muralist Yim Miyaki marked his return with a painting carrying the message “Checo races with Mexico”. Further north, in San Nicolas de los Garza, artists Claudio Robledo Mtanous and Dariana Vazquez Guajardo have also celebrated the Mexican driver through their work.

But Perez’s influence extends beyond the murals bearing his image. His success has helped bring more Mexican fans to F1 and inspired greater interest in motorsport in a country where, for a generation, he has been its most visible figure on the world stage.

Back where he belongs

This weekend brings the thin air of the highest circuit on the calendar, the roar of the Foro Sol and, on Sunday, a landmark for a national hero.

Perez has acknowledged that returning home in a developing Cadillac, without the expectation of fighting at the front, presents a different challenge to his Red Bull years. But the reception awaiting him says something about his relationship with Mexico.

For a decade, Checo’s home Grand Prix has been about far more than where he finishes.