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“Hired a Mental Coach”: Teary-Eyed Sergio Perez Reveals Family’s Struggles Amid Marko’s Distressing Statements

Published 09/26/2023, 10:00 AM EDT

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Thanks to the modern culture, speaking up and speaking about mental health is not only appreciated but also celebrated. This has given multiple athletes across various sports to open up about their struggles in their high-pressure jobs. Formula 1 isn’t an exception to these confessions and Sergio Perez has joined the few who have addressed these struggles in their personal lives. The Red Bull man opened up about how the pressure of F1 carried forward to his personal life as well and how he tackled it.

Apart from being a racing driver, the 33-year-old Mexican is a husband and a father of three. These pressures of the F1 world certainly would have affected his family life. Besides the comments from Helmut Marko may also be hard to ignore amid all the slack Checo is facing for his performance. Thus, he took measures to keep his mind healthy. As seen on Twitter (now X), Perez made a revelation about how his mental health was affecting his personal and professional life and how he hired a mental coach.

via Reuters

“Formula 1 is my sport, my life, my passion. If you are having such a hard time at work, it is difficult to be cheerful at home with your wife and children. That’s why I hired a mental coach because my family deserves to have that cheerful father at home,” revealed Checo in a candid interview with Dutch publication De Limburger.

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“Together with my coach, I started working on becoming the best version of myself at home, but also as a driver. As a result, I have found positivity again. I am now 33 years old, but I am still learning every day. On the track, but certainly also outside it. Partly because of this, I will never get enough of Formula 1. It is truly amazing what this sport still gives me,” he added.

The Mexican took the step that most ignore or take for granted to keep themselves healthy and performing at the high levels you need in F1. Despite the disrespect and criticism, Perez is pushing through and keeping himself happy and healthy for his family’s sake as well.

Although he’s not alone in his struggles. Many have come out in support of the Mexican after the insensitive remarks made toward him.

Mercedes men Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff slam Helmut Marko for his insensitive remarks toward Sergio Perez

While Perez might not paint “the Mexican way” in a negative picture, it doesn’t give the right message when a senior figure like Helmut Marko makes comments like these. Marko might’ve apologized for his comments or rather defended his comments but several people including Red Bull’s rivals like Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff have hit back at him, who are chief promoters of diversity and inclusivity in the sport.

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Wolff said, “I think it’s so embarrassing for Formula 1 overall. It’s not even saying it, it’s to have that mindset to even come up with these things.”

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Resonating with his boss, Hamilton said, “It’s completely unacceptable what he said. Whilst we say there is no room for any type of discrimination within this sport which there should be – no room for it – to have leaders and people in his position making comments like this is not good for us moving forwards.”

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Marko & Perez seemed to have had a backdoor conversation to settle any issues on this matter. Therefore, for the time being, things seem pretty cool at Red Bull. However, Checo will have to focus on his form on the track while balancing his mental health as it may cost him his Red Bull drive.

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Written by:

Mahim Suhalka

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Mahim Suhalka is a senior F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Having written over 1500 articles, Mahim specializes in core sports coverage. Having followed the sport for a long time, his articles contain excellent analysis of the sport and he dives deeper into the technicalities of this complex sport.
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Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar