Sergio Perez appears to have made his decision to leave Force India, whichever of the two options before him is finalised.
The Mexican driver has substantial sponsorship dollars which follow him, all of which stems from his relationship with Telmex Group owner Carlos Slim.
“Obviously I have a contract with the team and, as you know, I have a group of sponsors and we’re trying to make the announcement all together. So from that respect it’s all clear.
“We’re getting into the point where very soon things should be announced. I expect my plans to be announced hopefully before the next race.
“My priority is to stay here. The team is going upwards and is really pushing, and I know the plans of the team so I am really happy to stay here.”
These comments were made by Sergio Perez following the 2015 summer break. The difference almost a year on is obvious to all.
“I will have a break to reflect on what we [Force India] have done,” the Mexican told reporters at the German GP.
Sergio concluded: “There are a couple of options, very attractive options, but I haven’t made my decision yet.”
The ‘attractive’ options to which Perez refers are clearly outside of Force India, and Renault have been making it known privately for some weeks that the Mexican is a target for them.
Williams are almost certainly parting company with Felipe Massa at the end of the year, and while they are keen to recruit Jenson Button – Perez is also an option for them.
Perez’s sponsorship team to which he has repeatedly referred to in recent weeks is impressive. Banamex, Telcel, Jalisco, Interprotección, Quaker State, Rajet, Telmex, Claro, Potosinos and Consorcio Aristos combined are believed to bring in excess of $15m to whoever employs Sergio – which is a big attraction for any team outside the current top three.
Yet Perez has proved he is no pay driver having delivered four podiums for the midfield grid outfit that is Force India – in two and half seasons. Over that time he has delivered 185 points to Hulkenberg’s 187 for the Silverstone squad – and many believe Perez’s team mate to be an F1 champion in waiting who never got the car to match his talent.
The loss of Perez’s funding to Force India will be painful, but Perez has formed the opinion that somewhere other than with Vijay Mallya’s team is the best shout for the future.
My guess is that he will have realised now that none of the top 3 are interested in him. So his best shot at moving up is with the next best alternative an up and coming works team. Choosing Williams would be making a parallel move, which makes no sense whatsoever. Look for Checo to sign for team Enstone. And Force India to sign up Fred Nasr.
Agreed, FI second seat will go to the highest interested bidder. Nasr would seem to be in a good position,just depends who’s interested!!
I agree. Williams would be a bad move, Enstone might be the one who can step up to challenge for the title. Alongside Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren it is the only one with knowledge and money to be a serious dark horse in ’17.
No mention of a Honda deal?…it’s a sad fact that such a works team is finding life in this new era such a struggle. I can see why he would want to leave force India, next season is going to be telling on the plucky team, with VJ and co having such a tough time, funds at the outfit must be tight for development. William might be a smart move,i can’t see Renault making much progress unless the Redbull share some of the secrets so who does that leave?..again a Honda maybe? 😉
Honda has vandoorne. And Sergio had a passage at McLaren and wasn’t really liked there if I remember correctly
I thought he did well there as a rookie. Internally to the team, I wouldna know. but clearly they thought they could do better.
I seem to remember reports of mechanics not liking his personality. But of course I don’t know if it’s true. I can’t say that about anyone in f1. Except for sutil. That’s a major *ssh*le.
They did take Alonso back plus a huge market for Honda,north and south America and frankly I would have thought the Mchonda needed the funds. Just Like Fred said, ‘you can’t win a championship with a customer Merc engine’ . Then again,like I said..who knows?? It’s silly season again and with my form in prediction this year he will prob end up managing a carwash.
Or at ferrari. 😂 same here any prediction I make is from the heart. So they all failed 😉 let’s hope my ‘brawn back to ferrari’ still comes through.
Maybe Renault seems more logical from the perspective of being a manufacturer, but when you put together this story and Williams telling Button ‘Make up your mind’, it almost feels as if Cheko wants to go to Williams, Williams prefer Button, so Williams try to hurry Button into a decision so they can get Cheko if Button doesn’t go to Williams.
Pfffff, I find it hard to make any predictions with the 2017 changes coming up, we’re simply missing out on crucial info here. I for one never underestimate Williams with their rich history and know how.
Williams have been know for coming up with some radical solutions to new regulations, but they have also failed miserable with new regulations. I feel it could honestly be anyone’s game. It feels like ForceIndia is becoming a serious force in terms of aero, and if nothing happens to their owners, they could be a serious contender too.
nothing to gain from staying at FI and competing head to head against the Hulk again, team mates who stay together too long are doomed to mutually ruin their careers , if he wins it’ll just be ‘ah Hulk ain’t all that after all’, and if he loses, well, he loses. But move to where? Williams for me is no forward step, their lack of progress in a stable rule environment hardly fills me with hope for 2017 – Button/Stroll would seem to be there preferred option I still think. Renault makes sense for Checo from the perspective of being a manufacturer, but I imagine Checo would need a watertight 3-5 year deal for that to be worth his while, can’t see them having gotten their act together (personnel wise) to have an impact next year.
Is the Ferrari dream completely gone now? When I read Esteban saying he knew where he’d be next year I couldn’t but help think maybe a Checo/Esteban swap might be on the cards, one final crack at Ferrari by sitting in a Haas for Checo, while the promised Mexican sponsors stay for FI – stranger things have happened 🙂
Nobody is gonna sign Estaban Guttierrez untill he brings atleast 50 million dollars. Look at yourself. Grosjean has scored 28 points he has scored none. In 2013 when Sauber was 5th fastest car near the end of the year (Sometimes even further up) he scored 6 compared to Hulk’s 51. And further he behaves like an entitled ass (blue flag incidents). I think if he doesn’t score till Monza even Haas will fire him.
Force India’s 2nd best option is Fred Nasr. He isn’t bad at all. Last year we saw it. And brings a lot of money. And 1 thing about Fred Nasr is he is very less prone to accidents. Only big accident i can remember is FP3 Canada 2015. Helps a small team. And he has claimed earlier, he could have been part of Red Bull programme if he has chosed instead of Brazilian sponsers.
Much better than Guttierrez.
One thing in favour for guttierrez, all this blue flag business has brought haas more on screen time in two races than nasr has been seen all year.
Hahaha! XD
😂😂 any one would think that the fom had a problem with a single team by not giving them air time on the TV..manor never had this problem 😉 😇 but the blue flag stuff basic driving, the new additions to the club really need to raise their games, Guttierrez is one of many so called drivers that really don’t belong there, how many kids are in the lower formula that can’t get a drive? Maybe there should be a cap as to how much money a driver could bring into a team? It would help to stop these idiots who have the money and absolutely no talent.
Agreed, I can name a dozen who are better.
That Haas seat deserves someone like JEV or even alexander Rossi. Many great drivers are there. I hate Estaban Gutierrez.
Firstly beacause he wastes a seat and then act as if he is a fuckin entitled ass.
Even Maldonado had speed on some days (well, when he didn’t crash) to atleast score some points in a mediocre car. And 2012 Spanish GP (the 1 which he won) it was superb. I was impressed by him that day.
Hi Parth,
I wasn’t trying to argue Esteban had done enough to earn the seat by the way, he hasn’t. Just on Checo, contracts, sponsors and all that. On the 50 million, history would tend to disagree with you, F1 has ever been thus. On merit, I agree, JEV is a loss for F1..if we’re discussing talents outside F1 who deserve a shot, I’ll shout for Frijns, any thoughts?
Estaben Ocon, i want him in a seat. I regard him very highly. ROBIN is quite good.
Okon will be interesting (did best Max after all), I do think we’ll see him at Renault next year, you never know, Manor in Belgium might be up for grabs, would be fascinating to see him square off vs Pascal….here’s hoping!!!
I agree Frijns should have had his shot, but it looks like that book is closed now. He recently did an one day IndyCar test and was only 0.2s behind Hunter-Reay, so we could see him do IndyCar in the future.
Ocon is good, but he was also driving for the best F3 team when he beat Verstappen. Ocon is most likely more comparable to LeClerc and Vandoorne, and all three should have a shot at F1. Gasly as a rookie was runner up in WSR to Sainz in ’14, and now being in a good GP2 team he’s isn’t doing so bad either. I’m not that impressed with Stroll’s wheel-to-wheel skills, he’s now driving in the best F3 team, but the level of talent in F3 isn’t that high at the moment (GP3 has the best talents now). He however does have decent speed, and with his dads money they could by him in somewhere, but personally I prefer drivers with some wheel-to-wheel skills to enter F1.
I would say those first four should get their chance at some point, and with Vandoorne needing it ASAP. I also would not mind seeing Ocon at Renault next year. LeClerc might need a bit more time in junior series, but could as well replace Gutierrez at Haas. If Gasly keeps doing what he does now in GP2 and Kvyat keeps fumbling, he might as well been given a shot at Toro Rosso next season.
Hi Borg. Think we might see 3 of these guys next year alright. I think Gasly has come good after a frustrating start, seemed to show the mental strength in Germany that Kvyat sadly lacking at the moment, it’s Prema’s first year in GP2 as well, has to have been some adjustment there, so expect he’ll get the nod at Torro Rosso. Vandorne surely in at Macca. Ocon I think is ready to be thrown in, but LeClerc could do with another year. Stroll in an ideal world would not be considered for F1 yet, but money talks, I think he’ll be in a position to call his own future somehow!
Was great to see Frijns get to test an indycar alright, can but hope Andretti gives him a shot in a year or two 🙂
While I do think that Gutierrez hasn’t done a good enough job to stay, it’s not like he got there only by buying a seat. You guys also compare his rookie season in a bad car to the Hulk, whom everybody believed was headed for a top drive. Plus he has out driven Grosjean lately, looks to me like Haas got really lucky at the start of the season and Gutierrez really unlucky.The blue flags I think he just got picked on, the top guys are ALWAYS complaining about it, it can’t possibly just be him. Nasr did it, Ericsson did it, you guys just have him in mind because of the radio calls the last two races.
O really, lets look at the performances of his career when he was not rookie. 2014 Monaco GP (he crashed out from 8th place) when Jules Bianchi scored points in the same race. Dude 5th fastest car on the grid and just 6 points. We don’t expect him to beat HULK. But don’t insult the performance you have got. Even Bottas scored 4 points in the same season when Williams was nothing else but Shit. In Germany he beat Grosjean because Grosjean missed FP3. Now coming to Russia where Haas was strong. 1st he didn’t qualify well. Then in race he straight piled Hulk without even realising that every one in front of him (which is whole of the field has applied brakes). Did something similar in Baku too but got away with it. Nasr and Erricson and even Manors for that matter include Renaults too get blue flags, they get out of the way. They don’t stick around for half a lap and then complain that other guy was not nice to him. Dude he is competing for a win not for 13th place. There isn’t a single race that stand out for that guy. Not a single. You could and still can defend Maldonado that he showed iotas of performances once in a while when he was not crashing. (2014 US GP) that Lotus was shit and it was not a race with many retirements, still Pastor scored points. Not with Gutierrez. He is driving misfield cars and has scored 6 points in whole of his career that too in one race when his team mate was batteling Alonso for 4th place(Japan 2013). A race before that (Korea 2013) his team mate was holding up Mercedes of Hamilton and Ferrari of Alonso to finish 4th and he was still batteling with Torro Rosso’s to finish 12th.
Tell me ine moment when you looked at Gutierrez and said yeah he is doing a decent job. If you are rational and unbiased you wont find none. I excuse him for Australia as Fernando crashed into him.
I do believe I said he hasn’t done enough to stay, right at the start, but some of the things you point out have caveats. Bianchi scored in Monaco precisely because Gutierrez crashed out, for example. As much as you like to point out how Grosjean has been unlucky the last couple of races, you don’t afford Gutierrez the same courtesy. Again, he doesn’t deserve to stay but the guy has never driven a top 5 car, even if Hulk made it seem like he was for one season. Sauber is so bad they are being outraged by a car with a year old engine. One last time: he doesn’t deserve to stay.