Sergio Perez says he only learned yesterday of Racing Point’s decision to part with his services and hire Sebastian Vettel, insisting “nobody told me anything”.
Racing Point released the news of Perez’s departure at the end of the current season late on Wednesday, subsequently confirming Vettel’s move to the Silverstone-based team for 2021 on Thursday morning.
Perez held a valid three-year contract with the team that was set to run until the end of 2022 but that obviously included an early termination clause, likely linked to a financial compensation.
But the Mexican had repeatedly said that all signs pointed to him remaining with Racing Point, or Aston Martin Racing, for the foreseeable future. But then came a phone call yesterday from team owner Lawrence Stroll who informed Perez that the team would be going in “another direction” from next season.
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Perez announces departure from Racing Point F1!
“Nobody told me anything, but I already knew and figured out a couple of things,” Perez said at Mugello on Thursday. “Final confirmation came yesterday.
“It’s fine. Seven years with the team, I know everything has a beginning and also an end. We still have nine races to make each other proud.”
Regarding the confidence he expressed about his future with Racing Point over the summer as the speculation involving Vettel ramped up, Perez said it was simply based on his ongoing exchanges with his team.
“That was the feedback that I was getting, that the team wanted to keep me and so on,” Perez explained.
“There were some discussions in the background about contracts and so on, that I’m not willing to disclose because I think those things should remain between the team and myself.
“There were a couple of things in the contract that we went through. In the end, they officially told me yesterday that I’m not continuing.
“I didn’t expect that. It is how it is.”
©RacingPoint