Formula 1: Red Bull set for major 2021 announcement

Red Bull are reportedly set to announce that Sergio Perez will partner Max Verstappen in the 2021 Formula 1 season in the coming week.

After seven seasons, Sergio Perez is officially an ex-Force India/Racing Point driver, as he is set to be replaced by four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel alongside Lance Stroll for the 2021 season.

But coming off a 2020 season that saw him finish in a career-high fourth place in the driver standings (previous best of seventh) and score a career-high 125 points (previous best of 101) despite the fact that the season was a shortened season as well as the fact that he missed two races after testing positive for COVID-19, there have been endless talks about Perez’s future.

The 30-year-old Mexican’s doors have closed one by one, and he has all but confirmed that it is Red Bull or bust for 2021. He has said that he remains confident about being in Formula 1 for 2022.

Now it has been reported that Perez is set to sign with Red Bull for 2021 as the replacement for Alexander Albon alongside Max Verstappen, with Albon moving to a new role as the team’s test and reserve driver, and this report comes from a reliable source after earlier reports had indicated that this news was “close”.

Here is what Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz had to say about the matter as part of his Ted’s Notebook program on Sky F1 in the moments after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"“We are expecting an announcement maybe in the next coming week that Sergio Perez has joined the team [Red Bull]. And Alex Albon will stay on as a test and reserve driver, and maybe they might even share the drive next year. It does look like Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have managed to convince Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull boss who wanted to keep the faith with Alex Albon, to sign Sergio Perez.“It seems like there is nothing to lose. Maybe they’ve taken our advice. They might as well sign Checo on a one-year deal or whatever, see how it goes and if he’s not happy or he can’t do the job they want him to do, they’ve always got Alex Albon in reserve. That seems like the elegant solution. That seems like what is going to happen.”"

More from Formula One

• Formula 1: Top Red Bull threat identified for 2024
• Formula 1: Why the Max Verstappen retirement obsession?
• Formula 1: Williams ‘mistake’ hints Logan Sargeant’s future
• Formula 1 awaiting key confirmation for 2024 season
• Formula 1: The ‘championship’ Max Verstappen only leads by 3 points

This news comes despite Red Bull firing back at rumors over a driver change. But this change would still allow Albon to continue on with the program into the future and put him in position to develop while remaining the go-to man for an open seat.

While “sharing the drive” does seem a bit far-fetched, this deal would allow for the team to plug him back in for 2022 should Perez not match or exceed expectations, as Kravitz noted.

Albon finished in a sixth place tie in the driver standings with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. after securing the first two podium finishes of his career, third place finishes in the Tuscan Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello and in the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.

Verstappen, who is coming off of his fourth consecutive multi-win season and second consecutive finish of third place in the driver standings behind only the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, remains under contract through 2023 after signing a multi-year extension in January.