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

Sergio Perez

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

Perez is currently without a drive for the 2021 season

Sam Hall

Sunday 20 September 2020 17:00

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.

Article continues under video

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."

Before you go...

Mercedes boss Wolff open to circuit rotation on Formula 1 calendar

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Lando Norris says controversial F1 regulations won't change: 'It doesn't matter what we say'

32 minutes ago

F1 star Kimi Antonelli in champagne ban after Japanese Grand Prix triumph

52 minutes ago

F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2026 results: Final classification with penalties applied

1 hour ago

Lewis Hamilton reacts to Ferrari's 'terrible' Japanese Grand Prix: "I couldn't keep up"

2 hours ago

Max Verstappen 'seriously considering' F1 retirement

2 hours ago

FIA announce meeting over controversial F1 regulations following terrifying crash