Not only was Sergio Perez told in the early days of last season that he might lose his Racing Point seat by 2021, the Mexican also had to miss two races when he contracted the corona virus.
In Great Britain, the brand new Red Bull driver was sidelined for two consecutive race weekends. He probably contracted his infection in Mexico, where he visited by his sick mother between the Grands Prix.
Despite this, he felt terribly stupid when he turned out to be the first Formula 1 driver to be infected with the virus. “It was certainly a tough year for me, I can say. Especially with corona, I was the first driver to contract the virus”, he sighs.
“Now it’s a bit more normal for people to contract the virus, but at the time I really thought I was the dumbest person on earth because I got infected. It was really hard for me to deal with,” the Mexican recalls .
He watched as his replacement Nico Hulkenberg made a good impression, while not much later the rumors about his racing seat for 2021 started. Dropping off Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel came on the team’s radar.
A new battle followed. This time not against the virus, but for his seat at Racing Point. “It was a crucial point in my career, because the contract problem came into play. In the end I did indeed lose my seat, but afterwards everything still fell into place. But I didn’t know what was going to happen at the time.”
Red Bull eventually knocked on his door, but his current employer did not give him 100 percent certainty either. “Sometimes it looked good, sometimes it didn’t. In the end it all worked out”, he beams. “You only get these kinds of opportunities once in your life and I am ready to make the most of them,” said Perez.
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