Sergio Perez says he will “not give up” and is determined to bounce back after he endured another disastrous qualifying session in Hungary.
The Red Bull driver crashed heavily in Q1 in tricky conditions, bringing out the red flag. At the time of the stoppage, he was in ninth place, but after the resumption, he was demoted to 16th on the final grid as others improved.
The incident came after a run of frustrating weekends for the Mexican that included a costly spin into the gravel in Q1 at Silverstone.
Both incidents have helped to ramp up speculation about his future after he has struggled to match the pace of teammate Max Verstappen in recent weeks.
“I’m very sorry for letting my team down,” he said. “It hurts a lot as a driver when you let your team down.
“But I will not give up. I will really give my very best to turn the situation around, and push as much as possible to get that constructors’ home.”
Asked if F1 was still fun for him Perez made it clear that he wants to continue, indicating that he wants to demonstrate his strength of character to his children.
“It’s something that mentally is really tough,” he said. “And the easiest way will be just to give up after the career I’ve had, just to say it’s been enough. But it’s not what I want to teach my kids.
“It’s not what I want to do. To show this sort of character I think it’s important to turn things around, get back to our form, because it was not that long ago.
“It’s just the one after the other. But you’ve seen it with many other drivers, that they’ve had difficult weekends, but probably when you are Red Bull, it’s a lot more noticed. And I just want to get back, and I will get back. I will not give up.”
Perez reflects on weekend so far
Perez lost control when he touched a kerb on a track made tricky by intermittent rain.
“It was quite an impact,” when asked how he was feeling.
“Luckily, it’s all good, bit of pain on the leg. But other than that, all good and ready for the race.”
“I lost it. I think I clipped the kerb, and that point it was raining harder in Turn 8. So when I clipped the kerb, it was quite late in the corner, and it just sent me off completely.
“It was so hard to judge the conditions. It was running hard, but at the end, you were not losing grip. I was improving my lap. So yeah, in hindsight, when you look at it, we were safe. We didn’t need to do the lap. But you always know a lot afterwards.”
He added: “I think after qualifying, everyone knows what to do. I think at the time, with the information I had, probably there was no need, especially where we were, and the rain was picking up. But we went, and we paid the price.”
Perez admitted that the incident was even more painful as it came so soon after Silverstone.
“I think these conditions can catch out anyone out there, but unfortunately, has been me with two in a row. I’m determined to turn things around. It’s obviously quite hard to face all the media after these difficult moments. But I think when we get back to it, it will be even sweeter.
“Yesterday we had a really good day, a very promising day. So I think we have very good information on the long runs. So hopefully tomorrow we can have some really good pace to come through the field and hopefully score some points.
“I think the feeling with the car is improving, the understanding with it as well. So we’re definitely making progress.
“And yesterday probably was the best Friday of the season. So there’s light at the end of the tunnel, but we just have to come through it. And hopefully tomorrow, that can be the day.”
Perez insisted that he had no concerns about his future despite Helmut Marko suggesting that he would be assessed over the summer break: “No, like I said before, nothing changes.
“I’m not worried. I’m fully determined to turn my season around and to focus on my performance.”
