Mexican driver Sergio Perez will leave Racing Point at the end of the Formula One season, with four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel set to replace him.

An announcement on Vettel is expected on Thursday at Mugello, the Ferrari-owned circuit near Florence that this weekend hosts the Tuscan Grand Prix and Ferrari’s 1,000th world championship race.

Ferrari have already said the German, who won his titles with Red Bull between 2010-13, is being replaced by Spaniard Carlos Sainz from McLaren next year.

Racing Point, who use Mercedes engines and will be renamed Aston Martin from 2021, are Vettel’s best option with the team currently fourth overall in the constructors’ championship.

A Racing Point statement on Wednesday confirming Perez’s departure after seven years with the Silverstone-based team made no mention of any replacement.

Perez, the only Latin American driver on the starting grid and with a contract due to run until 2022, said in his own statement on Twitter that everything had a beginning and an end.

“My time with the team will come to an end after this season,” Perez, who missed two races this season after contracting COVID-19, said.

“It hurts a bit as I bet on the team during very rough times.

Perez was instrumental in Racing Point’s survival after they went into administration in 2018 as Force India under the ownership of Vijay Mallya.

“We managed to overcome obstacles and I am very proud of saving the jobs of several of my teammates,” he said.

The team is now run by a consortium led by Canadian Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance drives for them and finished third in last Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix in a car dubbed the ‘Pink Mercedes’ for its similarity to last year’s title-winning car.

Perez said he had no Plan B for his future, although in July he said teams in and outside the paddock had contacted him with Alfa Romeo and Haas seen as possible options.

Perez, 30, has made eight podium appearances in his F1 career, five of them with Force India.