It was one crash too many for Sergio Perez during qualifying in Hungary
As he did two weeks ago in Great Britain, the Mexican once again lost control of his single-seater and caused an accident. It was a costly mistake for Red Bull, and may well spell the end of his adventure with the Austrian team.
The spark lasted only a moment for Sergio Perez. While he had announced on Friday that he had experienced one of his best days in the Red Bull, stating: “I think it was a very good Friday, especially considering the direction we have taken with the progress we made during the day”, the Mexican had a very contrasted Saturday, marked by a new accident and an elimination in the first part of qualifying.
A Costly Accident
As small raindrops started to fall on the Hungaroring circuit, making the track very tricky, some drivers still decided to attempt a quick lap with soft tires. While Logan Sargeant narrowly avoided an accident at the first turn by locking up his tires and only damaging his front wing and slightly his floor, the situation was completely different for Sergio Perez.
In his second flying lap, the Mexican places his car on the wet kerb of turn 8, loses the back of his single-seater, and places his Red Bull in the tyre barriers. Numerous damages are observed, especially at the rear, which could force him to install new components on his car, or even a new chassis, forcing him to start the race from the pit lane. An accident that could have been avoided according to Perez.
« I was just in a good lap. But in retrospect, we probably didn’t need that lap. It’s something we will analyze. But I think these conditions can surprise anyone, and unfortunately that was the case for me with two consecutive accidents [at Silverstone and Budapest]. It was really a very bad timing. I think at that time, it was raining a little harder in that particular part and I think when I turned, I touched the kerb a bit and it was rather wet.
Pressure at Red Bull
This is a new accident for the Mexican driver, who had already been involved in an incident during qualifying at Silverstone. A situation that the leaders of Red Bull, including Helmut Marko, find hard to tolerate, as he mentioned earlier this week the possibility of changing drivers during the summer break.
« We always hope that Sergio Perez regains his form. We will assess the situation after the next two races during the summer break and then we will see what happens. » An ultimatum to which Perez has not yet responded favorably. However, the Mexican believes that he is still capable of finding his former form.
« But at the same time, it makes me more determined to regain my form, to come back with this team, and to focus on the rest, and obviously, to learn from these mistakes that have occurred one after the other and to take the positive points from them. Yesterday, I think we were the fastest car in the long relays, so I hope we can see it in tomorrow’s race and progress, minimize the damage and, hopefully, score good points.
On his side, Helmut Marko briefly commented on the crash, saying they would soon evaluate the situation and « meet to decide. ».
