When Sergio Perez crossed the finish line in P3 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it almost felt like he had actually won the Mexican Grand Prix. His father, Antonio Perez Garibay, in particular, was over the moon, as he spent the entire post-race celebrations carrying the Mexican flag on his shoulders.

There were indeed a lot of emotions springing out of every single Mexican that showed up to the event. However, the emotions did not just stop with the Mexicans and the Red Bull family, as Charles Leclerc, too, apparently had tears rolling down his eyes watching Antonio celebrate his son’s success.

Why you might ask? Well, the Monegasque lost his father, Herve Leclerc, at the age of 54 back in 2017. And Leclerc Jr did mention in several interviews that he wished his dad was by his side to witness his glory in Formula 1.

But, in what was a colossal misfortune, Herve passed away months before Charles made his F1 debut with Alfa Romeo. Hence, watching Antonio Perez celebrate Sergio Perez’s podium in Mexico reminded Leclerc of his father.

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Leclerc rang up Sergio Perez: Antonio

As reported by Marca, Antonio opened up that Perez received a call from Leclerc the night he clinched his first-ever podium in Mexico.

“Checo got a call yesterday from Charles Leclerc and said: ‘Checo, you don’t know how happy it made me to see your parents celebrate like that; Tears came to my eyes, I would have loved my father to see me. ‘ I did not know that Charles’s father had passed away and that Charles had spoken to Checo,” he said.

Leclerc has indeed come across a lot of tragedies, which include the loss of his father, Herve, and his godfather, Jules Bianchi; The Monegasque lost two of his biggest motivations in a span of 2 years.

“The loss of my father and Jules. Two incredibly hard moments in my life that made me stronger as a person and a driver. Mentally I am stronger than I used to be. They definitely stay with you forever. Unfortunately, I lost my father quite early. It changes you. It changes you forever,” Leclerc once said in an interview.

Overall, despite such mental blows, Leclerc managed to make it into F1 and is going well with Ferrari. Who knows, the Monegasque could soon lift his first world championship trophy as well. So, can Leclerc rise up to be one of the most successful F1 drivers?

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