“Unbelievable” was Sergio Perez’s choice of words after he took second place at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber – his first ever podium in just his second season in the sport. He crossed the line sandwiched between two world champions – Fernando Alonso winning the race for Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton came home third for McLaren.
It was a wet-dry race, and in exceptionally tricky conditions Perez defied his relative inexperience to rise from ninth on the grid to second in the closing stages as he tried to chase down Alonso for the win.
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Listen to the man himself recall the race, as Perez looks back fondly on the early days of his career and wonders whether this was an opportunity that slipped him by in settling for second – although he was picked up by a big team for the following season, so it certainly didn’t harm his career prospects at the time.
Hit play on the video above for a trip down memory lane with the Mexican in the latest in our Through the Visor series.
