SERGIO PEREZ crashed his Red Bull just five minutes into the first Hungarian Grand Prix practice session on Friday.
The 33-year-old had just started his first flying lap of the weekend when his front-left wheel dipped on to the grass, causing his car to spin out and crash into the barrier.
Checo was left unharmed by the accident, although he appeared to be very frustrated with his mistake.
Perez currently sits second in the Drivers Championship, but he has failed to reach Q3 in each of the last five race weekends.
His poor qualifying form has subsequently had an impact on his race results, therefore casting doubt over his future at Red Bull.
And he now finds himself under pressure from Daniel Ricciardo, who was named as AlphaTauri’s new driver last week.
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Ricciardo, 34, replaced rookie Nyck de Vries, who was axed by Red Bull’s sister team following his poor start to the season.
The Aussie is set to make his F1 return at the Hungarian GP this weekend, but he hopes to eventually work his way back into contention at Red Bull.
On Thursday, he said: “I had enough time off to reset but also kind of enjoy it again. I already felt that on the simulator so far this year but then also that’s why I wanted to drive the car and really make sure that it is still truly what I love doing most.
“I was up to speed really quickly and it felt so good again and obviously tasting the Red Bull car (at Silverstone after the British GP) got me pretty excited.
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“I knew also with everything that happened the last few years, getting back into the sport after taking some time off, I knew it would be very hard to go back at the top.
“Of course that was my wish but you also need to be realistic at some point and say ‘OK, if I want to get back to a Red Bull seat then it’s going to take a bit of a process or a path’. This for me is the best path at the moment.”
Championship leader Max Verstappen has revealed that he would be happy to see his former teammate return to Red Bull.
When asked about the possibility of a reunion earlier this week, he said: “I mean, I never actually wanted him to leave!
“No, I mean, all of these things, we know that we get on very well, and if Daniel, of course, does well where he is now, then, of course, he has the opportunity to go back up.
“It’s all open, to be honest.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
