SERGIO PEREZ has been confirmed as a Red Bull driver for 2021 and will partner Max Verstappen.
The Mexican finished fourth in the drivers’ championship.
Sergio Perez has been confirmed as a Red Bull driver for 2021Credit: Getty
But he was ruthlessly axed by Racing Point, who picked Sebastian Vettel instead.
Perez, 30, has agreed a one-year deal.
Alex Albon will be demoted to the team’s test and reserve driver roles.
Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner, said: “Alex is a valued member of the team and we thought long and hard about this decision.
“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.”
Albon has spent the last 18 months at Red Bull following a rapid promotion from AlphaTauri.
But he has struggled and was outqualified by Verstappen at every race in 2020.
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Red Bull were keen to give the 24-year-old as much time as possible to prove he should keep his place.
But two third-place finishes and a strong drive to fourth in last week’s Abu Dhabi GP have not been enough to do that.
Red Bull’s announcement means Mercedes are the only team to still have a seat left open for 2021 – although Lewis Hamilton’s new deal is almost but confirmed.
In a separate coverstation, Horner revealed he is confident Perez can help Red Bull take the title fight to Mercedes in 2021.
Horner said: “I have known Sergio for many years since he drove for my team in GP2, and seeing how he has matured since that time.
“He is a very rounded driver and has a canny ability to over-deliver in the machinery he has been given.
“I think he will be a good addition to the team and shows our ambition to field a competitive team against Mercedes next year.”
London-born Thai racer Albon remains as part of the team and Horner says it was a difficult decision to drop the likable racer.
However, Horner says the team made their decision based on the data from studying their respective performances over the year.
He added: “The decision has been an incredibly hard one.
“All of us wanted to see Alex succeed but what we said was that we would give Alex the season and we would not make a decision until the end of the season to have a complete set of data.
“That’s what we did and when you look at the data and the ratio between the two drivers it was a decision that was driven by that.
“It was impossible to ignore Sergio’s performance in the Racing Point, particularly in the second half of the season.”
Perez’s arrival will lead to questions about Red Bull’s young driver programme that has nurtured talent including Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo alongside Verstappen.
However, Horner says that on this occasion there was not a ready-made replacement in their stable and opted for the best driver available.
He said: “There was no candidate on the junior programme that was suitable so we decided to go outside of that for the first time since 2007.
“It was impossible to ignore Sergio’s performances this year. He has driven a great campaign and has been truly impressive, particularly in the second half of the season.
“We want to field the strongest team we can to take the fight to Mercedes and you have got to do that with both cars.
“Sergio has the necessary experience and will be a good teammate for Max next year. We want our drivers racing close together at the sharp end.”
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
