Formula 1: Is Sergio Perez down to one final option?

With Sergio Perez set to leave Racing Point at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, is he down to just one option for 2021?

Sergio Perez knows he won’t be back with Racing Point, which are set to be rebranded as Aston Martin for next year, for the 2021 Formula 1 season, and he still doesn’t have a ride lined up beyond the conclusion of 2020.

Perez is in the midst of a career year, but that success, coupled with his financial backing, wasn’t enough to persuade Racing Point to bring him back for 2021, despite the fact that he signed a multi-year contract extension with the team last year.

He is set to be replaced by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is set to move on from Ferrari after six seasons, presumably alongside Lance Stroll.

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Stroll has yet to be confirmed by the team for 2021, but as the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll, it is basically a lock, especially since Perez will not be back.

Perez, whose 188 starts rank second all-time among winless drivers, is having an exceptional season that should be garnering him all kinds of looks from other top teams. Despite missing two races after testing positive for COVID-19, he sits in fourth place in the driver standings through 14 of 17 races on the schedule with 100 points as the “best of the rest”, trailing only the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

His current career-high finishes in the standings are seventh place from 2016 and 2017, and his career-high single-season point total is 101 from 2016.

But he has effectively confirmed that it is Red Bull or bust for 2021, despite not explicitly naming the Milton Keynes-based team as a potential landing spot.

Here is what Perez had to say about the matter, according to WTF1.

"“If I don’t have Formula 1 next year, I don’t see myself doing anything else. I will take a year to consider what I want to do, [see if] I miss it. Most other drivers, they retire and after six months they go mad and they want to do whatever is available. So, I have to see. I’ve never experienced that my whole life.“I have to see life out of the sport. How it is, how it suits me and then see if I miss it or I just want to carry on with that life. I’ve been here so many years. I want to keep going. I think I’m at the peak of my career, but I also want to keep going with a reason, with a plan and with a good project. I think if there’s not a good project that keeps my motivation to give 100%, I’d rather not take it.”"

Red Bull are one of only four teams that have not solidified their driver lineups for next year, but they are the only team for which there seems to be any remaining uncertainty. They sit in second place behind Mercedes in the constructor standings and would be a competitive landing spot for anybody.

Alexander Albon does not have a contract to compete alongside Verstappen next year, and his struggles throughout the 2020 season have left many wondering if he will be back in 2021; he sits all the way down in ninth place in the driver standings. Nico Hulkenberg has also been discussed as a replacement option, should Albon be released and Perez passed up.

Mercedes still have not re-signed Hamilton alongside Bottas for next year, although it looks as though it is only a matter of time before that happens, and AlphaTauri have not confirmed who will drive alongside Pierre Gasly, although reports suggest that Red Bull junior driver Yuki Tsunoda will be promoted from Formula 2.

Haas have technically not solidified their driver lineup for next year, but Perez was effectively ruled out there a while ago. Reports also suggest that Formula 2 drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have already signed deals to compete as the rookie replacements for Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.