Sergio Perez believes he is the front-runner to be retained by Force India in 2019 in the wake of the team’s takeover by a consortium backed by Lawrence Stroll.
The Mexican was the man who filed the claim which put the Silverstone-based squad into administration, saying it was done to save the team in the face of a looming winding-up order which would have seen the team shut down.
But now, while the team’s future is secure, the likely arrival of Stroll’s son Lance from Williams means Checo or Esteban Ocon is set to get the boot for next season if not sooner.
The Mercedes links to the team would have potentially put the Frenchman in a good position, however, it is the Mexican who insists the ball is now in the new owners’ court.
“It’s a matter of days or weeks. The contract is there, it’s just the position of the team that must be clarified,” Perez told Fox.
“The team is coming from a complex situation, but fortunately the 400 workers are all safe with a good investment that guarantees stability.”
The 28-year-old has previously made his position clear that he considers Force India his best choice, this despite almost making a move to Renault for 2017 before he himself backed out of a deal done by his backers.
“When you have no chance at Ferrari or Mercedes, I think Force India is a very interesting option,” he stated.
“I do not regret not signing with Renault, because in the last two years I was best of the rest. As a team, we were in front of Renault in the constructors’ championship.”
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What is frustrating Perez though, is the inability for a good team to break out of the midfield and challenge the dominance of the current top three teams.
“The difference in budget these days, going into a new generation of cars, is tremendous,” he told Motorsport.com “You cannot compete. The last four or five years it was simply two categories in Formula 1.
“I’ve never heard before, that people were talking about “yeah, I won the race”, when you are best of the rest, or ‘I’m leading the championship’ if you are best of the rest.
“That shouldn’t be the way. That is damaging the sport a lot.”
He does see some of that changing under the leadership of Liberty Media, however.
“I really hope for the benefit of the sport that in 2021 you have five teams fighting for victories every race,” said the eight-time podium sitter.
“That will be a dream come true. As a fan, I’d like to see that.”
