Sergio Perez could be confirmed as a Red Bull driver for the 2021 season today. Perez's chances of securing a seat for 2021 increased after his stellar performance in the 2020 season which included his maiden F1 victory in the penultimate race of the season in the outer race of the race track in Sakhir. Earlier, it seemed that Nico Hulkenberg was in line to replace Alex Albon, joining Max Verstappen at the British-Austrian team. There are many hints pointing towards the same on social media -- Perez's brother showed a Red Bull refrigerator and his father posted a picture of a Red Bull can on Twitter.
After Perez won the Sakhir GP, it was almost game-over for Albon who was struggling at Red Bull
Photo Credit: AFP
In addition to this Speedweek.com and Dutch publication, De Telegraaf are reporting the same as well. The reports also state that Alexander Albon will also be retained either as a co-driver or as the reserve driver which means that he will have a chance at the team still in case Perez is not very performant.
Tsunoda's addition to AlphaTauri means that Albon will likely be out of a drive in 2021
Perez is also slated to get just a 1-year contract with an extension clause. For Albon, this can't be good news as he is not even getting demoted to the junior team AlphaTauri like Pierre Gasly was last year. AlphaTauri has already confirmed Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda as its drivers for the 2021 season.
Perez is widely accepted as one of the best drivers in F1, but he found himself out of a seat at Racing Point despite a contract till 2022, when Ferrari decided to not renew the contract of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Vettel joins the rebranded Aston Martin team in 2021 as its lead driver and brand ambassador.
