"Tenacious" Perez "deserves to be in F1" - Szafnauer

Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer hopes Sergio Perez is able to secure a position on the grid after being dropped by the team for 2021.

Racing Point will rebrand to Aston Martin Racing next season and, after much speculation, the team finally announced a driver pairing of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel.

Despite having a contract to race with the team into 2021, Szafnauer confirmed the team activated a clause in Perez's contract that "didn't exist" in Stroll's to create space for four time champion Vettel.

Speaking highly of the Mexican, Szafnauer said he hopes to see Perez on the grid as a rival in the coming years.

He deserves to be in Formula 1 and I hope he can find a spot and we’re racing against him next year," said the Racing Point boss.

Perez has finished in the points in all seven races he has contested to date in 2020 having missed both the British and 70th Anniversary Grands Prix after testing positive for coronavirus.

Launching into somewhat of a sales pitch for the Mexican, Szafnauer continued: "He’s got loads of experience, he’s a tenacious racer come Sunday, he’s a good qualifier. Rarely makes mistakes, brings home the points and if there’s a sniff of a podium, he’s usually there.

So yeah, we are giving away quite a bit and I wish Checo the best of luck."

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