Minichamps 1:43 Red Bull RB19 – Sergio Pérez, United States GP (Austin) 2023 Art. 410231911

A 1:43 model of the Red Bull RB19 as raced by Sergio Pérez at the 2023 United States Grand Prix in Austin. Resin, matte blue livery with car number 11, in a protective display case.

Austin is effectively his home race

The Circuit of the Americas sits about 300 kilometres from the Mexican border, and since Pérez joined Red Bull the grandstands there have filled with Mexican flags.

Mexico has its own Grand Prix, in Mexico City, and it sells out. But Austin is within driving distance of the border and has a large Mexican-American population of its own, and the effect on the crowd is obvious from the television pictures. Pérez gets a reception in Texas that no other driver except Verstappen approaches.

It is part of a wider shift. When Pérez entered Formula One in 2011 the United States had no race at all for two seasons. By 2023 it had three — Austin, Miami and Las Vegas — which is more than any other country has ever had in a single season.

The usual explanation is the Netflix series. The more complete one is that Liberty Media bought the sport in 2017 with an explicit plan to sell it to America, and did.

The race

Pérez finished fifth on the road and was promoted to fourth when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified hours after the finish for excessive plank wear. He finished the 2023 season second in the championship.

In the range

Set 410231901 is Verstappen's winning car from the same race.

Specifications

Scale: 1:43 · Resin · Protective display case · Limited edition · Age: 15+