Sergio Perez is under pressure in Formula 1, consistently underperforming at Red Bull and failing to match Max Verstappen.
The Mexican is yet to win a race this season and has been knocked out in the first part of qualifying on multiple occasions.
His future is also uncertain heading into 2025, despite having a contract with Red Bull for at least next season as Perez keeps underdelivering.
Losing his seat at Red Bull could even leave Perez without a Formula 1 drive for next year and have to look into racing in another series, with only Visa Cash App RB yet to confirm their line-up.
Some Formula 1 drivers have raced in other championships and at Le Mans or in the Indy 500, including Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso, with varying levels of success.
Since stepping into Formula 1, Perez hasn’t branched out into other disciplines of racing. Yet he has now explained to Banorte MX why the 34-year-old would like to race at Le Mans, but not in the Indy 500.
Sergio Perez doesn’t want to race in the Indy 500 because of the ‘risks involved’
The Indy 500 involves a lot of risk, as there is very little margin for error. The walls are so close to the track on the oval.
At The Brickyard, the oval is a superspeedway, which allows the cars to achieve much higher speeds than in F1, even on a low-downforce rear wing configuration at tracks such as Monza.
Some former Formula 1 drivers have moved to IndyCar and have done very well at the Indy 500, such as Marcus Ericsson who won in 2022.
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Other ex-F1 drivers have also raced at Le Mans and Indy such as Romain Grosjean, who could be clinging on to his IndyCar career.
Perez explained why, despite admiring Indianapolis, he would prefer to race at Le Mans over the Indy 500 during his career.
He said: “Le Mans is a race that really attracts my attention. I admire Indianapolis, and I like to watch it, but not to race it because of the risks involved. But if a good opportunity comes up, Le Mans would definitely be a race that I would consider.”
WEC requires a very strong driver line-up as the level of competition is so high
The World Endurance Championship is very competitive across the Hypercar class and the slower LMGT3 category.
LMGT3 allows drivers who aren’t professionals to compete. These are Bronze drivers who tend to bring funding with them to the team.
The Bronze drivers may lack some fine details compared to their professional teammates, but there isn’t a significant difference.
Jose Maria Lopez hinted that the Bronze driver in their Lexus LMGT wasn’t up to the required level over the season as they failed to score a point.
Perez hasn’t been linked with WEC yet, but he may need to look for other options if he part ways with Red Bull and can’t stay in F1.