Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez admitted a harsh reality for drivers from a different country, particularly outside of Europe, trying to make it to Formula 1 or any motorsport series.
The 33-year-old, born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, shared that drivers need to leave their home country to develop early and properly.
"Being very young, at 12-13 years old, is when you have to leave for Europe. Otherwise you arrive too late," the six-time race winner said.
Other nuances about the sport also need to be learned, and immersing into a new and different culture as an adolescent is necessary.
"The tracks, the rules, etc. It's more complicated. So, that's why it's so difficult for Latin American drivers today to get to Formula 1 because leaving your country at such a young age is very hard," Perez added.
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Weight of the passport matters
The 13-year veteran was also asked if the passport of a driver matters when making a Formula 1 team. After a brief pause, the Mexican nodded and said yes.
Most Formula 1 drivers hail from Europe, specifically 13 of the 20 drivers who have seen Grand Prix action this season.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez (Mexico), Aston Martin's Lance Stroll (Canada), Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu (China), Williams' Alex Albon (Thailand) and Logan Sargeant (United States), McLaren's Oscar Piastri (Australia), and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda (Japan) and the returning Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) are the non-European drivers on the grid.
Spanish driver Fernando Alonso also mentioned a British bias in the sport that painted him and Dutch Max Verstappen as "villains."
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