Sergio Perez has revealed how he convinced a billionaire businessman to fund his Formula 1 dreams as a youngster – by pestering him into giving in.
The man known to fans as 'Checo' knew from a young age that he wanted to race for a living. But it was always going to be tough for a young Mexican boy to achieve that dream, especially after being banned from racing in his homeland.
In a new in-depth piece about his youth, Perez revealed how his attention then turned to getting to Europe, which would give him the best chance of success. He told The Players' Tribune about getting into trouble with his mother for how many expensive long-distance calls he was making, before turning to emails.
But even once he did secure a place in Formula BMW in Germany, there was the significant obstacle of funding it. "I was in heaven. Finally I had a gateway to Europe," he wrote, after admitting he had "no budget" at all.
Therefore, he had to go to one of the world's richest men in the hope of getting one. "I was very lucky. I had known Carlos Slim, the man himself, since I was a little boy, thanks to my dad and his work for [former Mexican racer] Adrian Fernandez," wrote Perez.
"Carlos was also the guy behind Escuderia Telmex, so he had always been very important to me. But getting him to send me to Europe was a different story. He hadn't gotten rich by throwing away his money, and he had absolutely no plans to send a 14-year-old kid to another part of the world. I didn’t really like to ask him about it either, but I just wanted it so badly. So I kept going to him like, 'Oh, please, pleeeeease could you help me get to Europe?'
"Every time he would say the same things. 'Son, it's too early. We don't need to go to Europe. The U.S. is great. Let's wait a bit.' Blah, blah, blah. Every time I would disagree. When I got the offer from Günther [Unterreitmeier, his prospective team boss in Formula BMW], I called Carlos again.
"Did he listen to me? Naaaah. Not really. Hahaha. The only reason he gave in, I think, was that he saw a kid who just wanted it so much. I was desperate. I was willing to do anything. In the end he probably got so tired of me that he actually saw the value in sending me off to a different continent. My family was ecstatic. Soon we were driving down to Toluca with a one-way ticket to Munich."
Perez made the most of it, rising through the motorsport ranks to make it into Formula 1, where he now races for Red Bull. And this weekend he is hoping to complete another childhood fantasy – win the Mexican Grand Prix in front of his adoring home crowd.
