De la Rosa replaces unwell Perez in Canada

Sergio Perez will sit out the rest of the Canadian grand prix weekend.

The Mexican rookie had hoped he was fully recovered from his heavy qualifying crash and concussion in Monaco two weeks ago and was cleared by FIA doctors on Thursday to drive in Montreal.

Perez, 21, was eleventh quickest in morning practice over 27 laps but after the session told his Sauber team he was not feeling well.

The Ferrari-powered Swiss team has therefore appointed McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa, the Spanish veteran who drove for the team last year, to race in Perez’s place for the remainder of the event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Sauber’s official reserve driver is Mexican teen Esteban Gutierrez, who is understood to not be in Canada this weekend.

Sauber press release

After Sergio Pérez reported feeling unwell in the first free practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix, the Sauber F1 Team decided he should miss one race on grounds of safety. His illness could be a consequence of the accident he suffered in qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix. Pedro de la Rosa (40, Spain) will be driving the second Sauber C30-Ferrari alongside Kamui Kobayashi in Montreal.

Team Principal Peter Sauber: ”This development hit us by surprise, because Sergio underwent thorough medical checks, first in the hospital in Monaco, then in a hospital in Zürich, and finally, the FIA doctors gave him the green light this Thursday in Montreal. Nobody could have foreseen that he would feel unwell. Maybe we are being overly cautious, but when it’s about the health of our drivers we take zero risks.”

Sergio Pérez: “Of course I wanted to drive and I had no doubt I was alright. But apparently this is unfortunately not the case. I am deeply disappointed. I spoke to the team after the session and told them that I’m not a hundred per cent fit. I only want to drive when I’m a hundred per cent well. I need some more time to recover.“

Peter Sauber added: “We want to thank Pedro de la Rosa and McLaren for helping us out in this situation.”