Sergio Pérez Mendoza (born 26 January 1990), also known as "Checo" Pérez, is a Mexican racing driver.

Pérez, who currently resides in Schindellegi, Switzerland,was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy until 2012. He also took his first Formula One podium at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, a drive which won him plaudits and fuelled speculation of a move to Ferrari in the near future. However, Pérez later told reporters that he expected to stay with Sauber until at least the end of the 2012 season. Due to his young age and performance, he has been referred to as: "The Mexican Wunderkind".

Pérez will join McLaren for the 2013 season, replacing Lewis Hamilton and racing alongside Jenson Button.

Pérez started the season with eighth place at the Australian Grand Prix, losing several places on the final lap due to excessively-worn tyres. In the second round at Malaysia, he went on to battle with Fernando Alonso for the win. In the dying laps of the race he was able to close the gap to 0.5 seconds, but was not able to make the pass as he went wide at turn 14 and fell back, finishing 2.2 seconds behind Alonso in second. Many observers praised the performance of Pérez during the race despite his late-race error, taking Sauber's best result as an independent team. In China, Pérez qualified a career-best eighth, but finished the race in eleventh place after problems with pit strategy and also his car's clutch.

He finished outside the points in the next three races – despite recording the fastest lap in Monaco – before Pérez achieved his second career podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing the race in third place, having started fifteenth.

Pérez on his way to third place in the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix, his second podium finish.In the European Grand Prix, Pérez qualified in fifteenth place, citing a handling imbalance and the car feeling "unpredictable" as reasons for the gap to Kobayashi in seventh. He improved to ninth place in the race, but raised poor qualifying form as an issue for the team. On lap 12 of the British Grand Prix, Pérez collided with Pastor Maldonado, forcing him to retire with broken suspension. He later criticised the Venezuelan, claiming "Everybody has concerns about him" before adding, "He is a driver who doesn't know that we are risking our lives and has no respect at all".[1] Maldonado received a double penalty in the form of a reprimand and a €10,000 fine after the race. Pérez later added: "Just look at the last races. He ruined Hamilton's race (in Valencia), he ruined my race in Monaco by doing stupid things. I don't understand why the stewards don't take a serious decision with him. With Pastor they're not doing anything that will teach him a lesson."

Pérez at the 2012 United States Grand PrixFor the German Grand Prix, Pérez started in 17th position but was able to make his way through the field, and ultimately finished the race in sixth place. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Pérez made it into Q3 and qualified fifth fastest. A penalty for Maldonado subsequently promoted Pérez to a career-best fourth on the grid. In the race, Pérez was forced to retire in the first turn of the first lap after Romain Grosjean caused a spectacular accident. Grosjean crashed his car into Lewis Hamilton creating a domino effect which involved five cars. Also involved in the accident were, the championship leader Fernando Alonso and Pérez's team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

Pérez took his third podium at the Italian Grand Prix. On Saturday, he failed to qualify for Q3, and was twelfth on the grid. On Sunday, he put in a storming drive to climb through the field to second place, passing on track, among others, Kimi Räikkönen, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa and Alonso. Unlike most of the drivers in the field, Pérez started the race on hard tyres and changed to the medium tyres on lap 29, allowing him to lead the Grand Prix for five laps. As a result, Pérez and his car's outstanding tyre management got him well into the points, and ultimately, to a podium finish. Ultimately, Pérez finished the season in tenth place in the Drivers' Championship with 66 points, 6 more than team-mate Kobayashi.