Pérez began karting aged six in 1996. He competed in the US-based Skip Barber National Championship in 2004, then moved to Europe in 2005 for the German Formula BMW ADAC series, improving from fourteenth to sixth over two seasons. In the 2007 British Formula 3 Championship he won the national class title with T-Sport by a comfortable margin, winning two-thirds of the races. He graduated to the International Class in 2008, finishing fourth in the standings.
Pérez drove for Campos Grand Prix in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series, winning at Sakhir and Losail. He moved to Arden International for the 2009 GP2 Series main season, finishing twelfth. Switching to Barwa Addax for 2010, he finished runner-up in the standings behind Pastor Maldonado after five victories.
Sauber announced Pérez as a driver on 4 October 2010. He became the fifth Mexican to compete in Formula One and the first since Héctor Rebaque raced between 1977 and 1981. He also joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in October 2010. Both Sauber cars were disqualified from the 2011 Australian Grand Prix for an illegal rear wing.
In 2012 Pérez achieved his maiden podium at the Malaysian Grand Prix, closing to within 2.2 seconds of Fernando Alonso in the closing laps. He added third at the Canadian Grand Prix after starting fifteenth, and a second-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix, where he ran on hard tyres, led five laps, and demonstrated strong tyre management. He finished the 2012 season tenth in the championship with 66 points.
On 28 September 2012 it was confirmed that Pérez would replace Lewis Hamilton at McLaren alongside Jenson Button. The season was podium-less. Pérez's best result was fifth in India. His contract was not renewed; Kevin Magnussen replaced him for 2014.
On 12 December 2013, Force India confirmed Pérez would join Nico Hülkenberg for 2014 in a €15 million deal. He scored Force India's first podium since 2009 with a third place at the Bahrain Grand Prix that year, holding off Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull in the closing laps.
In 2015 Pérez finished ninth in the championship with 78 points, his highest position at that time, including a podium in Russia. In 2016 he scored podiums at the Monaco Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix in Baku, recovering from a gearbox-change penalty to pass Kimi Räikkönen on the final lap in Azerbaijan.
After Force India was placed into administration following the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2018, its assets were purchased by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll. The team re-entered the championship as Racing Point Force India, retaining Pérez for the second half of the season.
In 2020 Pérez tested positive for COVID-19 before the British Grand Prix and missed that race and the subsequent 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. He announced his departure from Racing Point in September 2020; Sebastian Vettel replaced him when the team became Aston Martin for 2021.
Pérez won his first race at the Sakhir Grand Prix, becoming Formula One's 110th race winner. Starting second, he was hit by Charles Leclerc on the first lap and fell to last, before taking the lead on lap 64 and winning ahead of Esteban Ocon and teammate Lance Stroll. It was the first win by a Mexican driver since Pedro Rodríguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix. He finished the 2020 season fourth with 125 points.
Pérez joined Red Bull Racing in 2021, replacing Alex Albon alongside Max Verstappen. At the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he inherited the lead after a tyre failure for Verstappen on lap 47, then held on when Hamilton overshot the restart to record his second career win and first for Red Bull. His defensive driving against Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi season finale helped Verstappen close a seven-second gap, which Verstappen later described as crucial to his championship victory.
In 2022 Pérez achieved his first pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, on his 215th Formula One start, breaking the record for most races before a first pole and becoming the first Mexican to claim pole in Formula One. He won at the Monaco Grand Prix, holding off both Ferraris and Verstappen over the three-hour limit on degrading tyres, and at the Singapore Grand Prix, leading every lap for a 7.5-second victory over Leclerc. He finished the 2022 season third in the championship with 305 points.
In 2023 Pérez won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole and won both the sprint and Grand Prix at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, becoming the first driver to win in Baku more than once. He finished runner-up to Verstappen in the 2023 championship with 285 points, giving Red Bull their first ever 1-2 in the Drivers' Championship. His title challenge ended at Qatar when he was collected by Ocon in the sprint race.
In 2024 Pérez was consistently outperformed by Verstappen. His most competitive weekend was at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he out-qualified Verstappen but made contact with Carlos Sainz Jr. on the penultimate lap and retired. A difficult home race in Mexico, where he finished seventeenth, drew criticism from Red Bull management. He finished eighth in the 2024 championship with 152 points. Following the season, Pérez and Red Bull mutually agreed to terminate his extended contract; he was replaced by Liam Lawson.
In August 2025, Cadillac announced Pérez had signed alongside Valtteri Bottas for their debut 2026 campaign. Pérez described the role as "a huge responsibility" and stated his sabbatical year had allowed him to "fall back in love with F1". He tested the Ferrari SF-23 alongside Cadillac at Imola and contributed in simulator work and engineering meetings as the team built its car from the ground up.
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