Sergio Perez picks $260M worth F1 driver as one of his top 3 friends on the grid: “He was really nice to me when I arrived in the sport”

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez picked Fernando Alonso as one of his top three friends on the grid and recalled how the Spanish driver was 'nice to him' when the former initially got into the sport. The Mexican driver is currently one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, having made his debut in 2011 with Sauber.

Sergio Perez has since represented a bunch of teams like McLaren, Force India, and Aston Martin before making his way to Red Bull in 2021 and partnering alongside Max Verstappen.

While playing a game with his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez picked his top three friends in the sport. He picked Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and his former Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll.

Perez claimed the $260 million worth Alonso (according to Celebrity Net Worth) was one of his closest friends on the grid. Sergio Perez shared:

"We both speak the same language, we get on well and we've been here for a long time. He was really nice to me when I arrived in the sport and I think we just have a good connection."

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Sergio Perez analyzes his P8 finish at the Spanish GP

Sergio Perez stated he 'struggled' to make his way in the field after starting the race in P11. He went for an alternative strategy of three stops while everyone around him went for an optimum two-spot race on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver said (via F1.com):

"We struggled a little bit with the pace today and it was super hard to pass anyone on that first stint, especially in the dirty air, I was managing my tires and in a DRS train."

"I think that ultimately compromised our race and we had some balance issues on the soft tire, which made things harder than predicted. We switched to a three-stop strategy and that meant we managed to save, what I believed was the maximum today, given our starting position," he added.

The 34-year-old identified his qualifying on Saturday as the main problem for his weekend as it is difficult to overtake at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and said:

"Our Saturday was the main problem, and I am pretty disappointed because we haven’t been able to maximize the potential in the car this weekend, at least on my side, I think Max did a tremendous job today to come away with the win."

Perez further spoke about implementing his learnings from last weekend to the upcoming race in Austria as he recognized that the 2024 season was a 'competitive' one for the team.

Sergio Perez could only add four points to his tally in Barcelona and drifted away from Carlos Sainz in their battle for P4 in the Driver's Championship. He currently has 111 points and is five behind the Ferrari driver.