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Sergio Pérez lands one of the great seats on the grid to secure his Formula 1 future as Max Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate; Alex Albon loses a racing seat for 2021 but remains with the team as a test and reserve driver
By James Galloway
Last Updated: 12/18/20 2:52 pm
Sergio Perez secured the coveted second seat at Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen to remain on the Formula 1 grid for the 2021 season.
Alex Albon is retained by the team in a test and reserve pilot role.
“The opportunity to compete for a team that competes for the championship is something that I have been waiting for since I joined F1 and it will be a proud moment to get on the grid in the colors of Red Bull,” said Pérez.
In a break with recent Red Bull tradition, Pérez becomes the first driver to join the team from outside of his own young driver program since 2007. Pérez-Albon’s news was reported last Sunday in The Notebook on Sky Sports F1 by Ted Kravitz.
The 30-year-old Mexican driver was eliminated in September by Racing Point by Sebastian Vettel for 2021, but has enjoyed the best season of his F1 career, finally winning his first grand prix in the 190th attempt earlier this year. month at the Sakhir GP.
Meanwhile, Albon has struggled in Verstappen’s wake, being outscored by the Dutchman in all races in 2020 and scoring less than half of his teammate’s points.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said: “Alex is a valued member of the team and we thought a lot about this decision. After taking our time to evaluate all the relevant data and performances, we have decided that Sergio is the right driver to accompany to Max for 2021 and I look forward to welcoming him to Red Bull Racing.
“Alex continues to be an important part of our team as a test and reserve driver with a key focus on the development of 2022 and we would like to thank him for his hard work and contribution.”
Red Bull had wanted to give 24-year-old Albon as much time as possible to show that he should keep his seat, but two third places and a strong push to fourth at last week’s Abu Dhabi GP have not been enough to ensure that.
With two race winners back on their books for the first time since Daniel Ricciardo’s departure two years ago, Red Bull is poised to present a more formidable lineup as they look to mount a more sustained challenge for world champions Mercedes next season.
Mercedes is now actually the only team with a seat available for 2021, although a new deal for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton remains a formality.
It will be interesting, very happy @SChecoPerez stays on the grid, must be experienced / fast enough to handle the pressure of Mighty Max. Happy too @alex_albon He’s still very much in the game for the future, he’s better than he looked this year, just like Gasly was last year. https://t.co/0WCCAA0LnZ
– Martin Brundle (@ MBrundleF1) December 18, 2020
FORMULA 1 GRID CONFIRMED IN 2021 …
Mercedes: TBC and Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez
McLaren: Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris
Aston Martin: Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll
Alpino: Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
AlphaTauri: Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda
Alfa Romeo: Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi
Haas: Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher
Williams: George Russell and Nicholas Latifi
Pérez finally has his chance at the big moment
4:54 Natalie Pinkham caught up with Sergio Pérez to discuss her first victory and her future in Formula 1 ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP that ended last week’s season.
So staggering that it seemed that a driver of the caliber, experience, and most importantly Perez’s form was in danger of missing a seat for 2021 entirely, the Mexican had made it clear upon learning of his fate at Racing Point in September that he was only interested in staying on the grid if he could secure a unit that offered promise for the future.
He’s had to wait, but Red Bull certainly represents him.
Pérez briefly got a taste of one of the great traditional F1 teams when he was hired by a race-winning McLaren as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton in 2013, when the Englishman left for Mercedes.
But the timing was inopportune. With the Woking team entering a period of decline, Pérez, then just 23 years old with two promising seasons in F1 with three podium finishes at Sauber behind him, endured an inconsistent year and only had a one-year contract.
His career at the top seemed to be in jeopardy at that early stage, but he was rescued by what was Force India, where he remained for the next seven seasons, rebuilding his reputation.
2:44 Sergio Pérez felt that finally winning in F1 ‘gives you an extra boost’, but he doesn’t think it will make a big difference to Red Bull’s decision to give him a boost for 2021.
Securing seven podiums for the team that became Racing Point, Pérez has established himself as one of F1’s consistent and fast players and enjoyed the team’s big step forward in form for 2020.
He finished fourth, the best of his career, in qualifying this year despite missing two races to Covid-19 and secured two podium finishes at the end of the season, including the famous victory in Bahrain when he had been last in the first. return.
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