Perez ready for ‘home race’

Sauber’s Sergio Perez has admitted that racing a US Grand Prix so close to his native Mexico will be an “emotional” experience.

The Guadalajara-born racer will have his whole family in attendance at the Circuit of the Americas and he admitted that the Austin race does feel like a home event.

“It’s the closest one I have ever raced in the last eight, nine years in my life, so I expect to have a lot of support here,” he said “There are many Mexicans coming because it’s quite close to Mexico.

“I will have all my family [here] – even my grandmother is coming here, my friends, all the people who never saw me racing live, they will be here, plus lot of Mexican fans, so it’s great. I feel very emotional about this weekend.

Perez added that the US race will feel like a homecoming as he had to leave Mexico at a young age to progress his racing career.

“I feel very happy to be so close to home as I left Mexico at a very young age,” he said. “All these [other F1 drivers], they always do a race or two during the year in their own countries and they have done all their careers in their countries. I had to move to their countries to do my own career, which means that I left Mexico at a very young age.”

It has been a similar story for Perez’s compatriot Esteban Gutierrez, the young Monterrey native tipped to take the second seat at Sauber following Perez’s move to McLaren for 2013. And Perez admitted that he would like to have a fellow Mexican on the grid next year.

“It will be good for the country, for us. I think he’s a good driver,” he said. “There have been a lot of rumours that he will be the driver taking my place at Sauber but at the moment I have no idea as to who is going to come.

“If he comes, it will be good to have two Mexican drivers after so much time without a driver; now we are finally going to have two on the grid. If it happens I think it’s great.”