McLaren has offered Sergio Perez a potential option outside Formula 1 in 2021 by joining their Arrow McLaren SP outfit in IndyCar.
It was a week ago, just before the Tuscan Grand Prix, that the Racing Point driver was informed he would not be kept on for the team’s new era as Aston Martin from next year, with Sebastian Vettel later announced as his replacement.
Perez’s sudden availability has made him quite the catch for another team on the F1 grid, but if nothing was to come about, a return to the company he raced with back in 2013 might be possible.
“He’ll probably end up in Formula 1, [that] is my guess, at either Haas or Alfa Romeo,” CEO Zak Brown predicted at Mugello.
“But if he had an interest in IndyCar, I think he’s a great race car driver, and we’d definitely be interested in talking to him.”
Also Read:
- Perez wants F1 stay ‘targeting 2022’ or he’ll retire
- Racing Point deny Stroll favouritism but admit Vettel-Perez pairing was impossible
However, to take on Perez, the McLaren chief does admit the Mexican would need to bring his backers and maybe more to facilitate running another car rather than him replacing either of their current drivers, Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew.
“We would need the funding for three cars, and at this point, we only have the funding for two cars,” Brown added.
“So we wouldn’t be in a position to sign him today, but it would be something that, in-between the backing that he’s historically had, and the commercial activity that we’ve got going on, and the excitement someone like Sergio would create, we would certainly look to see if we could put it together.”
Certainly, Perez would have a better chance of competing for wins and podiums in IndyCar than at any of the clear F1 options that remain.