Amid news that COVID-19 struck Aston Martin‘s Sebastian Vettel will miss Sunday’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez believes drivers should be allowed to race should they be carrying a mild form of the virus.
Before Vettel, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was marginalised for the three days of Bahrain Testing earlier this month, but will be fit for the Bahrain weekend say his team.
But not so Vettel who will sit out the opener, and hopefully be ready for Saudi a week later, forcing Aston Martin to call up reserve Nico Hulkenberg as a substitute for the German four-time F1 World Champion,
But Perez, who missed two Grand Prix races in 2020 due to Covid, told reporters at Sakhir today: “There’s so much we’ve learned about the virus that going forward we should discuss whether we allow the drivers to race if the symptoms are mild.
“The drivers can obviously be the judge, but I think it makes sense to have a discussion,” added Perez who partners reigning World Champion Max Verstappen this year at Red Bull.
The Mexican, a F1 veteran at 32, intends to raise his game in his second year with the Bulls, his ambitions high ahead of the new season: “I want to be the one that is fighting for the championship and winning the championship for my team.
“But I was in a special position where I could do something for Max, for my team. And that really made the difference to see them celebrating.
“Right now Max is the best driver on the grid. He is definitely a great reference to myself and as a driver you always want to be racing against the best, so it’s a privilege to have, but it’s the toughest job to have Max as a team-mate.”
While Red Bull and Ferrari seem to have the edge over Mercedes but Perez, like many, is not buying another tale of Mercedes preseason woes: “We have seen that they are extremely strong and they will be very competitive this weekend. We have a lot of strategists and we know that they are very fast, so they will definitely be up there.”