After a career-best Formula 1 season in which he finished third with an impressive total of 305 points, Mexico’s Minister of Defence and serial good guy – Sergio Perez – has expressed his gratitude by gifting every single Red Bull Racing employee a bottle of Patron Tequila and thank you card each.
The act of generosity was brought to wider attention by a post on Reddit’s r/formua1. Some applauded the gesture, some calculated the retail cost – approximately US$56,000 all up, but given he’s a brand ambassador, there was doubt he paid that much (if anything at all) – while others made jokes regarding the earlier drama between Perez and his teammate/two-time world champion Max Verstappen.
Drama, it’s worth noting, which may have cost poor Checo a second-place season finish (see: below); Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pipping him by just three points to tail Verstappen in the 2022 driver standings.
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“Was there a mysterious brown envelope of cash Alonso-style with the tequila?” quipped u/skagoat.
This was, of course, a reference to the incident in 2007 wherein another two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, slipped his side of the garage envelopes packed with about €1,500 worth of cold hard cash to buy “loyalty and preference” over his then-teammate/rival Lewis Hamilton.
u/_MantisTobogganMD_ elaborated: “Just one of many points of tension between the two drivers that season. McLaren, meanwhile, was being accused by the FIA of obtaining secret Ferrari documents. Listen to the BBC’s Sport’s Strangest Crimes ‘Spygate’ podcast series to learn more.”
Check out the original thread about Sergio Perez thanking all 1,400 Red Bull Racing employees with bottles of Patron Tequila for yourself below.
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