Perez still has time to find 'deserved' F1 seat - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says Sergio Perez is still “worthy of a seat” after being dropped by Racing Point for the 2021 Formula 1 season.

On Wednesday night, Perez confirmed he would be leaving the team after seven seasons.

That was soon followed up by confirmation from Racing Point that Sebastian Vettel would be Perez’s replacement after months of speculation.

Haas and Alfa Romeo appear to be Perez’s best hopes of an F1 seat for next season and Ricciardo says the Mexican deserves to be on the grid in 2021.

“He is certainly worthy of a seat to say the least,” Ricciardo said. “As a competitor I rate him. As a person I get on with them. I saw him Sunday after the race, and I had a bit of an idea that this was going to be announced soon. It is obviously fairly late, well, it is not crazy late I think he still has time.

“There are few more seats available, and I hope for him that he finds a seat. He is still young. He is a year younger than me, so what is a 30?,  so I am old. He is young, he is still a baby. I wish him well, I certainly do. And hope to see him on the grid in 2021.”

Esteban Ocon shared two years alongside Perez at Force India in 2017 and 2018.

The Frenchman is also hopeful he can find a seat for next year.

“A difficult situation for sure at the moment for Checo,” Ocon added. “I do not know how it is from the inside but what I know when I raced with him, he is a guy that deserved to have a seat in F1.

“He has always been there consistently scoring, helping the team back in my days and even before then he was a guy that showed sense and capabilities and awesome speed. So he deserves the seat in F1, and I hope he will remain in F1.”