Who is Khalil Beschir? All about Sergio Perez's new manager

Former Red Bull driver Sergio Perez recently revealed that he has added former Lebanese driver Khalil Beschir to his management team ahead of a potential return to F1 next year. The Mexican driver had raced at the pinnacle of motorsport for over a decade, from 2011 to 2024, before he was dropped by the Austrian team at the end of last year.

In his time in the sport, Perez raced for teams like Sauber, McLaren, Racing Point, and Red Bull and won six times in 14 seasons. In his first stint in the sport, the 35-year-old was managed by Julian Jakobi, who was instrumental in his move to the Milton Keynes-based outfit after Racing Point chose Sebastian Vettel over him for 2021.

However, he recently revealed that Jakobi was not part of his management anymore, with the new team consisting of Khalil Beschir, Luis Aguirre, and Perez himself. Beschir is a former Lebanese driver and F1 pundit who began his career in karting in 1998 and switched to single-seaters in 2004.

He raced in popular junior categories like Formula Renault, Italian Formula 3, and the European F3000 series, while also representing the Arab region in A1GP from 2005 to 2008.

Beschir switched to broadcasting in 2010 and later became the F1 analyst and co-commentator of Bein Sports in 2014 before leaving the role at the end of the 2023 season. The 42-year-old also made a name for himself in the world of motorsport consulting, advising several young drivers in their journey in the sport.

---

Sergio Perez chimes in on his chances of returning to F1 in 2026

Former F1 driver Sergio Perez stated that he was keen to return to Formula One in the future, as he believed that he had something to give to the sport and did not want to end his racing career as of now.

In an interview with the Desde el Paddock podcast, the six-time F1 race winner reflected on the subject and said:

"Yes, I do, if the right project comes along that I feel is where I should be. I want to go back because I don't want to end my career like this. I'll go back if it's worth paying the price to be in F1. I'm in no rush, we'll see what happens next year."

Sergio Perez also spoke about his exit from Red Bull and added:

"In the end, that's how the sport is. Decisions were made because there was too much pressure that they themselves ended up creating. There was a lot of pressure on my side of the garage ... it was putting a lot of pressure on the engineers, on everyone involved, and I think in the end that ended up costing us a lot."

Sergio Perez raced for the former world champions from 2021 to 2024 and won five times and even finished P2 in the driver's championship in 2023.

Edited by Tushhita Barua