Despite the speculation, there wasn't much doubt in many people's mind that Sergio Perez would chose to stay with Force India for 2017.
Still, the Mexican's official confirmation last weekend came as a relief for Perez who was keen to put the matter behind him and get on with the business of racing.
"Yes I’m happy that I can finally share with all of you, something less to worry [about] for the [rest of] the races of the year," Perez said in Suzuka today.
"It’s always good to know what you are doing in your future, and it’s good, now I can get on totally with the job.
"There are five races left, they are really important for the team and hopefully we can keep on doing the job we are doing the whole season."
Asked whether the ongoing and lingering contract talks with Force India eventually became a distraction, Perez said they had indeed.
"To be honest yes, the uncertainty of what’s going to happen. Because I came to a point where I was seriously considering it’s not going to happen, it took very long, as my deals are a bit more complex than others.
"But especially because it was so long, it was probably the last three months not knowing where my future will be. It’s not the best but at the end of the day I think I coped with it well.
"I am used to dealing with that, the rumours, uncertainty of the future and I think that helped me, what I lived in my past, to try to stay focused on my job."
It's fairly rare for a driver to open up about contract negotiations, but Perez offered a glimpse into why discussions extended so much.
"It was mainly for a negotiation between my sponsors and the team. That was the main reason that I took a bit longer than expected."
"Sponsors want to pay less and [have] more space, the usual routine, but this took a bit longer than expected.
"Probably for the future we will separate the deals, my deals as the drivers and then my sponsors as the sponsors.
"In the past and up to next year it’s always been linked, so I think for the future it will work a bit better if we can separate a bit."
Extending his stay at Force India for one more year, Perez underlined his wish to be free in 2018 while seeking stability and a known quantity in the short term as Formula 1 embarks on a new path with regard to new rules in 2017.
"I wanted the stability. Loyalty as well played an important role on this, because this team has been extremely good for me and my career.
"Going into a new generation of rules, all I wanted was to have some stability and not move around too much and obviously it was a one year option, so I want to see where we are next year and what’s available for the future.
"At the moment we are fourth in the constructors and the top three teams are locked out, so there were no other better options.
"Whatever option that I went, I was going to go sideways or backwards, so that’s why I decided my best short-term future is here."
Scene at the Malaysian Grand Prix
2016 Malaysian Grand Prix - Quotes of the week
Breakfast with... Gianni Morbidelli
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