PEREZ WILL LEAVE RACING POINT AT THE END OF 2020

Today (9th September) Sergio Perez announced over Twitter that at the end of the 2020 season he will be leaving Racing Point.

Perez made his Formula One debut in 2011 with Sauber which became Alfa Romeo in 2018. He was with Sauber until 2012 before he got a big move to a then struggling McLaren side alongside 2009 World Champion Jenson Button but failed to make a good enough impression on the Woking based team as he was dropped at the end of the year and was given a lifeline by Force India (now Racing Point) for the 2014 season and has been the leader of the team for many years.

In 2012 Perez enjoyed his most successful season with three podium finishes. His highest finish in the overall standings came in 2016 and 2017 when he finished an impressive seventh.

When it was announced earlier in the year that four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the year rumours began swirling throughout the paddock where the German driver would end up for the 2021 season or if he would be on the grid at all.

With the announcement that Perez will leave it begins to suggest that Vettel will be a Racing Point (Aston Martin for 2021) driver. There has been little on the subject since Perez signed an extension to his contract that should have kept him at the team until 2022.

So far, no other drivers other than Sebastian Vettel has been linked with a seat at Aston Martin for next year.

With Perez determined to stay in F1 for the foreseeable future his best options for a seat next year include Haas who look likely to shake up their driver line up of Grosjean and Magnussen. The Mexican driver could end up at Alfa Romeo with the chance that 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will retire at the end of the year despite this the Alfa Romeo seat looks set for F2 driver and son of seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher – Mick Schumacher who is a part of the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA). Other candidates include other F2 driver Callum Ilott also part of the FDA.

Since his F1 debut Perez has achieved eight podiums twice finishing second.