Red Bull driver Sergio Perez experienced a crash during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session which saw him suffer yet another Q1 exit. Although the Mexican driver will start the race from 16th position on the grid – a continuation of his recent poor performance, he remains unfazed about his recent series of underwhelming performances.
Perez’s mishap took place during the final minutes of Q1 when he ran wide at Turn 8, moving onto a wet part of the track which caused him to lose control and crash into the barriers. Whilst speaking to the media after the session, Perez explained, as quoted by Motorsport Week:
“Yeah, it was quite an impact, luckily all good, bit of pain on the leg but other than that all good, but ready for the race.”
Reflecting on the incident, Perez conceded that the lap during which he crashed might have been unnecessary as his previous times were adequate for progression to the next qualifying round.
Kym Illman/Getty Images
“I lost it, I think I clipped the kerb and at that point, it was raining harder at Turn 8 so it was quite late in the corner and it just sent me off completely in the wall.”
Despite facing intense scrutiny, Perez is intent on learning from his mistakes to improve his future performance.
“Not really, I was just on a good lap but in hindsight probably we didn’t need that lap, it’s something we will review.
“But I think these conditions can catch out anyone out there, but unfortunately it has been me two in a row.
“I mean, I’m determined to turn things around, it’s quite hard to face all the media after all these difficult moments, but I think when we get back to it it will be even sweeter.
“It’s something that was so hard to judge the conditions, it was raining harder but at the end you were not losing grip.
“I was improving my lap, so in hindsight when you look at it we were safe, we didn’t need to do that lap, but you also know a lot afterwards.
“It hurts, you know, that it happened again, especially in the run that I am going through, but yeah I’m determined to turn this around.”
Although not fully equipped with the latest car updates, which consist of a newly shaped engine cover, the Mexican driver noted significant improvements in the RB20’s performance based on practice sessions, especially during longer runs.
“I believe… yesterday we had a really good day, very promising day.
“I think we had very good information on the long runs so hopefully we can have some really good pace to come through the field and hopefully score some points.”
Looking ahead, the driver explained that he was feeling more comfortable with the car. He concluded:
“The feeling with the car is improving, the understanding with it as well, so we [are] definitely making progress.
“Yesterday was probably the best Friday of the season, so there is light at the end of the tunnel but we just have to come through it and hopefully tomorrow can be the day.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.