Sergio Perez: Red Bull driver made ‘rookie error’ with crash in Hungarian GP practice, says Martin Brundle
Under pressure, Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez made a “newbie mistake” by walking out of Hungarian Grand Prix practice, according to Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.
Pérez inexplicably veered off track just over three minutes into the opening session of the weekend at the Hungaroring on Friday, continuing his shocking run of form that has seen him fail to reach the final part of qualifying for five consecutive Grands Prix, including Teammate and world championship leader Max Verstappen took pole position in each team.
The Mexican driver is contracted with the reigning constructors’ champion until the end of 2024 but speculation over his future has intensified this week following Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the grid within the Red Bull family at AlphaTauri.
Ricciardo has made it clear that his ultimate goal is a return to Red Bull, and Pérez’s latest accident will only serve to increase the uncertainty over his future with the team.
“It was just a mistake on my part,” Perez said Friday evening. “But the guys have done a tremendous job getting the car together and driving something good in FP2. We have some good data to look at.”
Attempting his first ‘flying’ lap of the weekend, Pérez plowed his left tires into the grass, sending the RB19 into a spin and a heavy shunt with the barrier.
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Sergio Pérez says that despite crashing in P1 he managed to get ‘good insights’ and thinks ‘everything is in place for a solid weekend.’
Although Pérez played down the incident, it was the latest lapse in poor form following a promising start to the campaign, in which he shared two wins each with teammate Verstappen and expressed confidence of mounting a title challenge. Did.
There’s no shame in outperforming the brilliant Verstappen, but Pérez has recorded just two podium finishes in the last six races in a car that is the best in the field, but his returns have been woefully disappointing.
Brundle: it was a newbie error
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle admitted he was shocked by Pérez’s mistake, and says his recent poor form is uncharacteristic of the usually “rock solid” driver.
Brundle said, “I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
“I think about his victories earlier this year, his great wins in Saudi and Azerbaijan, his absolutely brilliant win on a dry track in Singapore last year in one of the most challenging races I’ve seen in a long time, where he was perfect.
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David Croft and Anthony Davidson take us through the action from the first two practice sessions at the Hungaroring.
“And then he does it! I can only assume it was pressure because he didn’t just cut the edge of the grass or the white line, he was a meter on the grass or something and I can’t get my head around it Absolutely.
“Red Bull want him to be glued to Verstappen’s gearbox when he’s not winning, maximizing points. They don’t want him to do that, throwing all the new upgraded sidepods and bits and pieces over the fence Then they didn’t get much of a chance to participate. The other car is dry when there’s extreme cooling conditions going on with the sidepod.
“They needed to get up and running and at the level they are, the experience the drivers have got at Red Bull, they didn’t need that car in the wall.
“Sergio is very solid. Throughout his career, he hasn’t been as dynamic sometimes, he sometimes goes on the missing list, but my goodness is he’s fast, consistent, keeps the tyres. So all these errors are very disproportionate to how his Formula 1 career has been.”
Horner: Perez crash ‘obviously disappointing’
Another factor adding to the untimeliness of Pérez’s crash was the arrival of significant upgrades at Red Bull this weekend.
Teams are not necessarily as well stocked with parts when new upgrades are brought in, so there is a possibility that any further damage throughout the weekend could result in a return to the previous specification.
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Red Bull boss Christian Horner says it is great to see Daniel Ricciardo back in the sport and expects him to stake a claim for a Red Bull seat in 2025.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the incident was “disappointing” and “not an ideal start” to the weekend.
“It’s obviously disappointing for this to happen,” Horner said. “It was unfortunate, he put a wheel on the grass and made a mistake in Turn 5.
“Obviously it’s not an ideal way to start the weekend.
“It was the start of his first lap, so he came through Turn 4, he just got it wrong and it just ended on him. You could clearly hear the frustration in his voice and he put his hands up . It is what it is…”
Patrick: The last nail in the coffin?
Danica Patrick of Sky Sports F1 questioned whether Pérez’s accident could be the “final nail in the coffin” in terms of his Red Bull future.
“He has clearly struggled and there has been a lot of talk about where Ricciardo will end up,” he added. “Usually at some point another nail is put in the coffin.
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Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson talks about the challenges of the Hungaroring track ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
“I don’t know whether he is at that point or not, but it definitely felt like – especially at the time all this was going on – that it was a really big mistake.
“At what time is this final check, is it three strike outs for you?
“Whichever way you want to describe it, there will come a certain point in time where people will probably flip a switch and think, ‘What do we do now?’ And the timing for that sort of thing to happen was awful.”
Ricciardo optimistic after first AlphaTauri drive
In his first dry run at AlphaTauri, Ricciardo was four tenths slower than new teammate Tsunoda and finished 14th on the final timesheet.
The Australian, who replaced Nick de Vries in the team, said of his first day in F1: “The positions are probably not very relevant at the moment. I think today it was more fair for me to basically feel That’s where I am in the car, and it all felt very familiar.
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Daniel Ricciardo felt ‘quite optimistic’ and ‘as if he never really left’ after his first drive in AlphaTauri after replacing Nick de Vries.
“I think there’s obviously a lot of outside attention, but once I put the helmet on and got in the car, it all felt like – in a way – I never really left.
“I think the car looks fine, so not feeling too bad. A little work tonight, but not feeling too weird.
“Definitely, a bit more of me, and of course there are some things that I feel already in the car that we can try to work on.
“So right now, I’m quite optimistic, it looks like Yuki’s had a pretty good day too, so I think if we put all these things together, maybe tomorrow we can be okay.”
Sky Sports F1 live Hungarian GP schedule
Saturday 22 July
8:45 am: F3 Sprint
11:15 AM: Hungarian GP Practice Three (Session starts 11:30 AM)
1:10 PM: F2 Sprint
2:15 PM: Hungarian GP Qualifying Build-up (Sky Showcase)
3:00 PM: Hungarian GP Qualifying (Sky Showcase)
5 p.m.: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday 23 July
7:20 am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11 am: Porsche Supercup
12:30 PM: Grand Prix Sunday – Hungarian GP Build-up
1:30 PM: F1 Juniors: Hungarian Grand Prix (Sky Sports Mix and Sky Showcase)
2 pm: Hungarian Grand Prix
4pm: Checkered flag: British GP reaction
5 p.m.: Ted’s Notebook
The return of Daniel Ricciardo and the first F1 Juniors title broadcast of the Hungarian Grand Prix! Catch all the action live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream the Hungarian GP and more now for £21 a month,
