Szafnauer: "We couldn't have told Sergio anything more"

Otmar Szafnauer, team boss at Racing Point, says he gave Perez 'as much clarity as he could' about his future with the team. Yesterday it was announced that Sebastian Vettel would replace Perez at the end of this season, while this possibility had previously been denied by the team.

Perez said in an interview yesterday that more clarity about his future could have helped him find a new seat. "We did keep Sergio up to date as well as his manager," Szafnauer responded to his driver's statement in an interview with The Race. "When the decision is a difficult one and it hasn’t been made, there isn’t really much more that you can say. So I don’t think we could have said anything more, otherwise we would be guessing what the future was."

"Tenacious racer"

However, the 56-year old team boss would like to wish Perez success in finding a new team. "He knows the team well, he’s got loads of experience, he’s a tenacious racer on Sunday, he’s a good qualifier, rarely makes mistakes, brings home the points and if there’s a sniff of a podium, he’s usually there."

"So we are giving away quite a bit, and I wish Checo the best of luck. He deserves to be in Formula 1 and I hope that he can he can find a spot and we’re racing against him next year.”