Formula 1: Sergio Perez competed in a different kind of racing
By Asher Fair
We spoke to Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez after he had the opportunity to compete in the final event of Red Bull Homestretch.
To cap off this year’s Red Bull Homestretch, Red Bull Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez had the opportunity to compete on Tuesday, June 10. He was the People’s Choice team captain before a crazy turn of events led him to hand off the title to Scott Speed, who replaced him for the remainder of the race.
This move led Perez’s team, the Blue Team, to victory. The Blue Team also included Winter X Games gold medalist Zeb Powell, Orlando Magic point guard Cole Anthony, singer, songwriter and TikTok personality Jaden Hossler, and actor, model and fitness entrepreneur Matthew Noszka.
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They took on the Red Team, which included rapper, singer, producer and songwriter Blxst, multi-platinum artist Lil Uzi Vert, three-time Supercross winner and current Motocross points leader Jett Lawrence, professional skateboarder Jamie Foy, and two-time Olympian and 2019 Senior World Team Champion Miles Chamley-Watson.
Take a look at the results.
- Race 1 – Red Bull Ring Short Track: Jett Lawrence
- Race 2 – Blue Moon Bay Speedway: Blxst
- Race 3 – Kyoto – Miyabi: Matthew Noszka
- Race 4 – Autodromo Nazionale Monza: Zeb Powell
- Race 5 – Tokyo Expressway: Scott Speed
- Race 6 – Sardegna – Windmills II: Matthew Noszka
- Race 7 – Red Bull Ring: Scott Speed
- Overall Champion: Scott Speed
After the event, we had the chance to speak to Perez about Red Bull Homestretch and about his experience with virtual racing in general.
“Red Bull is such a huge brand involved in so many different fun things and Red Bull Homestretch was one of them that they invited me to take part in,” Perez told Beyond the Flag.
“I am not huge into gaming, especially with family life outside of F1, but the opportunity to race online with drivers from other disciplines and also people that don’t race professionally was really fun and it had a good atmosphere.”
Both AlphaTauri drivers, Pierre Gasly and rookie Yuki Tsunoda, competed in Red Bull Homestretch before Perez got his turn, though he didn’t get the chance to connect with either driver for advice ahead of his own appearance.
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“We spend so much time travelling during the season that outside of F1 I think us drivers all try and switch off and focus on family life so I didn’t get chance to speak to Pierre and Yuki about it, but I saw they did really well and also had a lot of fun in the last Red Bull Homestretch, which is partly why I was looking forward to getting involved myself,” he said.
With live action, including live Formula 1 racing, shut down for several months last year, the popularity of virtual racing skyrocketed among drivers from professional racing series and fans of those series around the world. However, Perez didn’t really get the chance to participate in a ton of it.
“I was so busy focusing on F1 and also trying to finalize my plans for this season with Red Bull that I didn’t really get a chance for much gaming, but hopefully this Christmas is a quieter period for me and I get some time to enjoy these things,” he said.
Though he doesn’t really have the time to get involved in virtual racing right now, he is also hoping to get more and more involved as his children get older and they can play together.
“At the moment, not so much,” he continued. “But I’m sure once my kids are a bit older we will play more games at home together. The only time I spend driving when I’m not at the racetrack is when I’m on the simulator training back at the Team’s factory.”
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Perez is set to make his eighth start as a Red Bull driver in this Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. ESPN is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.