Sergio Perez admits taking on a reserve driver role in Formula 1 is an unlikely third option for 2021.
The Mexican is without a seat for next year after Racing Point signed Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari to start their new era as Aston Martin.
Perez is still a candidate at Red Bull, should the team decide to replace Alex Albon, but ahead of this weekend’s second race in Bahrain, he was asked about rumours of interest to be a third driver at one of the top teams.
“We haven’t gone into too much detail with it, it’s just an option, but it’s not my priority,” he was quoted by Crash.net.
“I think we have to figure out in case we get into that how we can make it work because as I said I don’t want to be going to all the races if I’m not driving.
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“It’s a hard one, obviously, the team needs to get a driver there, so probably I’m not the right person for it but we will see.
“I think in the next two weeks I will know more about my future but that’s something I can still decide on next year, what’s really the ultimate thing I want to do for 2021,” Checo added.
“So as I say there’s no hurry on that, I’ll wait and see what happens in the coming weeks and then I’ll see whether I prefer to take a full sabbatical and come back in 2022. At the moment that’s definitely Plan B.
“I think that (being a reserve driver) will be Plan C! So you know my A and my B and now you know my C.”
Following his podium two weeks earlier in Turkey, Perez was on course to beat Albon and finish third last Sunday in Bahrain, this before an engine failure saw him retire with less than three laps to go.
Asked if he thought that could impact his Red Bull chances though, the 30-year-old was highly doubtful.
“No I think performance is important, but although I missed the podium I don’t think it’s one race that makes the difference,” Perez added.
“I’ve been here 10 years and over the years I have delivered so people know what I can and what I cannot do. So I don’t think one race changes the history of that.”