It appears that Sergio Pérez still keeps in very good contact with the Aston Martin F1 Team, with whom he spent eight years with when they were known as Force India and more recently Racing Point.
Whilst with the side, Pérez famously claimed his first win and Racing Point’s first win, something that arguably put him on Red Bull’s radar to replace Alex Albon.
His win came incredibly after being told he wouldn’t have a place at the Silverstone-based side for 2021, when they officially became Aston Martin.
Despite this, he clearly talks to some of the team still, with Pérez having recently said that he expects Aston Martin to be “very competitive” in 2023.
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“I think Fernando will lift the team a lot,” Perez told DAZN.
“Everything I hear is that it will be a very competitive year for Aston Martin.
“So it would be very good for the sport and for everyone to have Fernando fighting at the front, fighting with Carlos (Sainz), with us (Red Bull).”
Whilst 2022 wasn’t a massively successful year for Aston Martin, for Checo, it was one to mostly celebrate.
With two more wins to his name and a first-ever pole position, Pérez performed on the hole very strongly in 2022, albeit just missing out on second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Pérez reflected on his own campaign and his “very special” win at the Monaco Grand Prix, a moment he will truly never forget.
“For me, winning in Monaco was very special because winning there is pure sporting history, it is a very special moment in my career,” said the 32-year-old.
“We were very competitive, especially at the beginning of the season, but I had a period of a couple of races where I lost being in the fight for the championship.
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“I think we learned a lot from those moments which will make us stronger for the future, because the important thing is to be able to have that consistency throughout the year to be in the fight for the championship.
“At the end of the day, you need both drivers to be consistently adding to win the Constructors’ Championship, so it’s been a very special year for the whole team. It’s been amazing.”
The Red Bull driver will ultimately want to carry his late 2022 pace into 2023, where he could potentially cause team-mate Max Verstappen a few problems, given that team orders will likely not be in play, at least for the first few rounds at the Austrian side.