F1 2020: Sebastian Vettel cops fresh blow after Sergio Perez claim

Sebastian Vettel’s season is going from bad to worse as the departing Ferrari star looks to have had another career lifeline pulled away.

Sebastian Vettel has received more bad news.

Sergio Perez is confident he won’t be shafted by Racing Point next year, dealing a fresh blow to Sebastian Vettel’s hopes of continuing his career in 2021.

The German is leaving Ferrari after six years but is yet to find a drive with another team on the F1 grid.

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Perez said previously if Racing Point made a play for the four-time world champion, he would be the “obvious” choice to be moved on, rather than teammate Lance Stroll, the son of the team’s billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.

Vettel has been linked to Racing Point but Perez is upbeat about his chances of suiting up in pink again next year.

“I’m not making way either (for Vettel)! I hope not,” the Mexican told Sky Sports.

“At the moment everything is looking as if we’re going to carry on with the team. So we’ll see.

“The feedback I’ve got from the team is we are going to carry on.”

Perez added he was “quite secure” about retaining his seat in 2021, saying: “I believe it’s just a matter of time before those rumours (linking Vettel to Racing Point) can go away.”

Several teams have already ruled out recruiting Vettel, who is enduring a miserable time in his final season with the Scuderia after the Italian outfit signed Carlos Sainz for next year.

Mercedes re-signed Valtteri Bottas to continue his partnership with Lewis Hamilton, Renault has replaced departing Aussie star Daniel Ricciardo with the returning Fernando Alonso and Red Bull has said it isn’t interested in bringing Vettel back to the team he won four consecutive world titles with.

Ricciardo is going to partner Lando Norris at McLaren, as Racing Point remains one of the few teams yet to confirm its driver line-up for next season. But Perez’s words don’t bode well for Vettel.

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Sebastian Vettel is cutting a lonely figure at Ferrari.

The 33-year-old has slumped to 11th in the drivers’ standings, well behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc (fourth). It’s been a grim year for the Prancing Horse, who are languishing in fifth in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren, Racing Point, Red Bull and Mercedes.

The frosty between Ferrari and its outgoing star was on show once again at last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, when Vettel blew up on the radio about a bungled tactical strategy as he finished seventh after starting 11th on the grid.

Vettel was told he was going to have to drive his deteriorating soft tyres to the end as part of a 37-lap run. When asked what he thought about his tyres by his race engineer, Vettel responded: “Oh for f***’s sake. I asked you this before. Now I’ve been pushing for three laps (further chewing up his tyres).”

Vettel also scolded his team for failing to provide him with the data needed to assess whether he could make it to the end of the race on his quickly-failing tyres.

When asked about the tense exchange after the race, a dispirited Vettel didn’t hide his frustrations.

“I had asked a few times what we were going to do because I had already thought that we could go to the end with the tyres,” he said.

“The answer was to push. I did that, then three laps later, ‘Ah we might stay out till the end’.”

He was even more scathing when asked what his team needs to do to escape its form slump.

“My opinion is not important anymore,” he said.