Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, like so many of his counterparts, began his racing career at a very young age in karting. In 1996, aged just six years old, Checo finished his first season in second place overall with four victories in his class.
That was a sign of things to come for Checo, who went on to win in Master Kadets, Shifter 125cc and became the youngest driver to win a competition in the Shifter 80cc class.
This prodigious talent soon caught the eye of the Escuderia Telmex scouts and by 2004, Checo had moved up from karts to race for Telmex in the US-based Skip Barber National Championship. Before long, he was heading to Europe and Formula BMW.
After 14th and sixth-placed finishes overall for Team Rosberg in his two campaigns in Formula BMW, he switched to A1 Grand Prix and then to Formula 3, dominating the British Formula 3 Championship (National Class) by winning two-thirds of his races for the T-Sport team in 2007.
By now living in Oxford, UK, Checo finished fourth in the International Class of the British F3 Championships in 2008, which paved the way for him to graduate to the F1 feeder series, GP2.
Checo dominated his very first race in the GP2 Asia Series, winning from start to finish in Bahrain and the following year, in the main GP2 Series, he ended the season as runner-up after winning in Hockenheim, Monaco, Silverstone, Spa and Abu Dhabi.
