F1 star Sergio Perez’s dad rushed to hospital after doctors found him unconscious in bathroom

SERGIO PEREZ’S father was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious on his bathroom floor.

Antonio Pérez Garibay, the dad of Red Bull driver Checo, was hospitalised over a pre-heart attack after Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

According to Mexican media, Perez Garibay suffered a pre-infarction, a condition that can present itself in the form of chest pain ahead of a heart attack.

The medical emergency is said to have happened on Sunday morning immediately after his son was involved in a race-ending crash with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in Baku.

He is understood to have collapsed in the bathroom of his Mexico City home, with emergency services from the Mexican Red Cross quickly transporting him to receive urgent medical attention.

A press release from his press office said: “The incident occurred following his son’s impact during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in a collision with driver Carlos Sainz.

“Perez Garibay was found unconscious in the bathroom of his Mexico City home, where paramedics attended to provide immediate medical attention.

“He was rushed to a hospital in the capital, where he is currently under medical observation and in stable condition. We thank you for your expressions of support and affection.”

Pictures of the 65-year-old – who is also a popular local politician – were also released, showing him in a hospital bed as he recovers.

He currently remains in hospital under observation, where it is understood he will remain for a few days while checks are carried out.

A statement from his racing organisation, Scuderia Perez, to Planet F1 said: “Mr. Perez Garibay is stable but remains in intensive care under constant medical review, focusing mainly on his heart and other vital organs.

“The specialists in charge have indicated that his condition continues to be closely monitored.”

In the meantime, Perez Garibay has been active on social media, posting pictures of his son with the caption “Viva Mexico” and sharing photos of the Grito de Independencia Ceremony.

As quoted by Mexican outlet Medio Tiempo, Perez Garibay said: “Everything happened after the [Perez] accident. The shock of the accident may have caused it.

“They are already checking my heart to see why I fainted.”

Perez, 34, had been jostling for position with Sainz in the closing stages of the race when they had an unfortunate coming together when Perez’s front right wheel clipped the rear left of his rivals, causing the Ferrari to veer to the left and cause both to crash into the wall.

No further action was taken by race stewards for the incident, with onboard footage showing neither driver had turned their wheel in a way which could have caused the collision.

Perez blasted Sainz, 30, as “an idiot” over the team radio before he was seen getting out of his car and going over to the Spaniard while he was still in his car to confront him about the crash.

On the incident, a calmed down Perez later told reporters: “I felt that exiting Turn 2, there was plenty of room between both cars, and within a metre or two, we ended up making contact.

“It’s very unfortunate. It all happened so quickly. I think Carlos was trying to follow the tow from Charles as he went to the inside and that really made things really hard.”

Meanwhile, Sainz said: “I was attacking Charles into Turn 2 and then I exited Turn 2. Checo [Perez] was on my left.

“We normally do a slight drift towards the left into the long straight, which I did like every other lap, and suddenly for some reason I don’t understand, Checo and I collided, which is unfortunate and also very disappointing.”

He added: “We’ve spoken already. [But] we need to analyse. I’m not someone who wants to put blame on either an excuse or put blame on another driver. It’s racing, everything happens super-fast.

“My feeling today is honestly I did nothing wrong, I didn’t do any erratic manoeuvre, put him against the wall or anything like that.

“We were just, like every other lap, drifting a bit, a tiny, tiny little bit towards the left because that’s where the racing line is and we just touched. It is what it is.”

F1 returns with another street circuit with the Singapore Grand Prix next weekend.

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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk