F1 Breaking News | Sergio Perez Signs For Red Bull

Former Racing Point driver and Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez has been confirmed as teammate to Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing next season, extending the popular Mexican drivers stay in Formula One.

Having over performed for a number of years with midfield teams, Sergio Perez has been granted his big break for next season, teaming up with Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing as the Austrian outfit elect to replace the underwhelming Alex Albon for next year.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1339934780549455873

Perez has signed what is understood to be an initial one-year deal with the energy drinks outfit, with outgoing driver Alex Albon having been demoted to the position of reserve driver, with a view to returning to the squad in future seasons.

“Alex is a valued member of the team and we thought long and hard about this decision," said Christian Horner. "Having taken our time to evaluate all the relevant data and performances we have decided that Sergio is the right driver to partner Max for 2021 and look forward to welcoming him to Red Bull Racing"

"Alex remains an important part of our Team as Test and Reserve Driver with a key focus on 2022 development and we would like to thank him for his hard work and contribution.”

With the confirmation of Perez at Red Bull, no room in the 2021 driver market is available for Nico Hulkenberg, who continues his exile from the sport following the loss of his Renault seat at the end of 2019.

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[Appie Kuipers]

Now Max will have much more work. Awesome.

More work? He is on the limit, he does’nt worry about a team mate, Perez has more work then with Stroll

 

[John Addison]

Max will be the one under pressure now.

 

[zwiss]

Max will be the one under pressure now.

Don't fool yourself!! According to some fanboys, Max would have won every single GP since 1950, if only he was born a bit sooner!!!

 

[Badwheels]

Hamilton doesn't re-sign and sits out a year. Russell is stuck at Williams. Albon gets Hamilton's seat because Hamilton is the reason Albon never hit his potential because he couldn't get the Hamilton crashes out of his head.
Poetic Justice.

 

[Appie Kuipers]

Max will be the one under pressure now.

This guy does not feel any pressure, you think Perez can keep up?

 

[Appie Kuipers]

Don't fool yourself!! According to some fanboys, Max would have won every single GP since 1950, if only he was born a bit sooner!!!

What’s the movie “what ever it takes” and you think otherwise.

 

[Sasha Jednak]

I just don’t see Perez doing anything better than Gasly/Albon. For sure nothing close to what Ricciardo could do. Good luck to him.
Wasn’t my favorit but it’s not my call of course.

 

[Knoxstar]

I think RB have known about this for some time but left Albon and Perez wondering until they had no options. Tsk, tsk Red Bull. That data you speak of is clear to anyone who watched this season. It's just an ego thing that the vaunted RB program is not as great as they want to believe it is.
Still it was the only decision to make. So now Perez gets a better seat than he had this year. Getting fired was probably the best thing to happen to him in awhile.
Checo will occasionally press Max but I don't know if Checo likes a pointy car. I think this more than the other drivers speed is an issue and it was an issue during the M Schumacher era as well for his co-drivers.

 

[muzikant]

Good news! Deserve it!

 

[NDG]

Redbull missed that scoring juggernaut 2 seasons ago when they neglected Ricciardo. A guy who looked more 'number one driver' material than Max.

Perez, his camp marketed him like he's golden. They tried it on Russell at Williams but failed going against a Merc young gun. Sadly for Albon, and other upcoming young drivers, they lack the backing to keep or get a seat. I'm really happy that George Russell banged the drum about 'a certain mexican' trying to steal his seat. Perez is not a neutral good guy. He played the card Vettel played on him. But I think he deserved to go rather than a young upcoming driver. Not an Albon fan but he's in the conversation so I'm gonna sound like it. Or yeah, I'm a fan of them young group, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Albon... I like them all.

Perez, when paired with a top driver will show his flaws. Max will hand him his ars and I will laugh about it. But well, the goal is to seal the deal and get the seat for now. We'll see.

 

[Lokopixo]

VAMOS

 

[pcraenme]

Not so sure Perez is the best choice, because RB really needs a ‘Bottas’ as second driver, and Perez is not a ‘Bottas’. Perez only got a one year contract and if Tsunoda will do great at AT next year, he might promote to RB, also helping RB in securing the deal with taking over the Honda engines for next years to come.

I would have preferred Hulkenberg as RB’s second driver. But... Perez is a very good and experienced driver so let’s see if RB can increase the pressure on Mercedes next year.

 

[Mr Latte]

The wise decision to make and it will be nice to see how he compares to Max.
Perez brings in the points.

Max certainly needs someone to challenge/push him as he continues to grow as a driver but at least RedBull having a teammate that can play more into race strategy to help secure more points podiums and potential wins.

Mclaren or other teams could be tougher competition in 21 than they were this year (who knows?) even if the Mercs are still dominant at most tracks. Nothing is a given.

2021 is looking to be interesting with the driver shifts that have happened.

 

[Serge.M]

I’m glad Perez is getting to stay in F1 largely because he didn’t lose his drive due to any bad performance but because the second car at Racing Point has the owners son in it, under any normal circumstances if a better driver is an option for a team the worst performing driver is the one to go but this was not the case here, Perez was clearly the better driver but shafted with unfortunate circumstances and he deserved better.

As for him at RB, it will be fun to watch, he certainly doesn’t seem like someone who has the mindset of being OK as a number two driver, he will fight hard, now wether he is fast enough is another thing but only time will tell that.

And for my last two cents, Red Bulls best ever driver combo was Max and Dan, they were both on a fairly even level and they got along quite well, get reminded of Daniel’s influence on Max every time Max says “mate” on the radio

 

[Mr Deap]

Not sure he will be like what Red Bull expect from him.

It's the way Perez started F1 & climbed his way up. It's like the biggest importunity for Perez to unleash the alpha male, because of Verstappen reputation. His time at Mclaren left a salty scar in his career. If it clash, I won't be surprised.

If you talk about maturity, there's no such thing as one in motorsport.

 

[Jim Layee]

Not sure he will be like what Red Bull expect from him.

It's the way Perez started F1 & climbed his way up. It's like the biggest importunity for Perez to unleash the alpha male, because of Verstappen reputation. His time at Mclaren left a salty scar in his career. If it clash, I won't be surprised.

If you talk about maturity, there's no such thing as one in motorsport.

Mclaren seem to be the only team that has had a problem with Checo where as they don't have a great reputation with former employees.

I used to be on a car based forum and was friendly with a verified ex Mclaren employee. His final straw was when Foul Ole Ron kept walking past his desk straightening the pens on his desk because they didn't match his tidy desk expectations . The guy in question walked straight into an aerospace design job less than a week later. We also discussed privately other problems there at the time but they remain private,

 

[Vincent Valentine]

I sure hope Checo can keep up with Max. It does seem like they develop the car more to fix Max' driving style, but I am sure that Checo knows a lot about F1 cars, so he can better work with the engineer to tweak his ride the way he likes it!

Not sure he will out qualify Max, because he is not that strong of a qualifier, but really good tyre management and race pace!

 

[Terry Rock]

Sergio is a very 'quick' driver.
I think he will do fine up against Max, despite the head-start.
That is what determines a good driver from the rest of the pack.
Think about it!.... How many times have you seen him make mistakes over the past seven seasons with FI/RP?
He is not prone to many and always 'punches' above his weight when the opportunity presents itself.
As long as RBR gives him the support he needs, he'll learn the car quickly.

 

[Terry Rock]

Redbull missed that scoring juggernaut 2 seasons ago when they neglected Ricciardo. A guy who looked more 'number one driver' material than Max.

Perez, his camp marketed him like he's golden. They tried it on Russell at Williams but failed going against a Merc young gun. Sadly for Albon, and other upcoming young drivers, they lack the backing to keep or get a seat. I'm really happy that George Russell banged the drum about 'a certain mexican' trying to steal his seat. Perez is not a neutral good guy. He played the card Vettel played on him. But I think he deserved to go rather than a young upcoming driver. Not an Albon fan but he's in the conversation so I'm gonna sound like it. Or yeah, I'm a fan of them young group, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Albon... I like them all.

Perez, when paired with a top driver will show his flaws. Max will hand him his ars and I will laugh about it. But well, the goal is to seal the deal and get the seat for now. We'll see.

You do realize this is not personal...right?
They're only a few seats in Formula1 and a lot of guys 'jockey-ing' for them.
Driver Management teams approach other racing outfits all the time.
Its a way to keep their guy actively employed.

 

[TOONS12]

You do realize this is not personal...right?
They're only a few seats in Formula1 and a lot of guys 'jockey-ing' for them.
Driver Management teams approach other racing outfits all the time.
Its a way to keep their guy actively employed.

It's also a sport where they are contracted, as part of the Russian GP deal, to have a Russian on the grid.
Remember that one who drove for Williams...

Add to that seats taken by the highest bidder etc....

It's a very shallow pool to pick from...which doesn't simply follow, 'talent'
And yes, i know, it always has been....