By Joiner Martinez
20 Jul 2024, 15:54 PM EDT
Red Bull’s Mexican driver Sergio Checo Pérez has taken responsibility for the qualifying disaster for the Hungarian Grand Prix after being eliminated in Q1 after crashing at Turn 8 and damaging his RB20.
Pérez will start from sixteenth position on the grid and has ruled out serious damage to some key parts such as the gearbox or engine. Given this, the Red Bull member sees not starting from the pit lane as a positive aspect.
“These conditions are complicated and we are the ones who make the mistake and we have to look forward and up. Everything is ready to start tomorrow from the grid,” said Checo Pérez.
Checo described the accident he experienced at the Hungaroring that brought out the red flags with 6:45 left in Q1 of the weekend.
“(It was all by) a millimetre when I was entering turn 8 and I lost the car completely and it was wet outside and I couldn’t brake and I hit the wall hard. We were improving on my lap and at the same time it was raining more, that’s when it hurt me and I took the wettest part and that’s when I lost the car,” said Checo Pérez.
The Guadalajara native admitted that “I am having problems feeling the conditions. We have an idea of what happens in these types of conditions or we have seen it in some races; we are working on the steering to see if we can improve how the car feels and that is what we will test in Belgium.”
🚨CHECO PÉREZ OUT IN Q1! HE HITS THE WALL! 🚨
The Mexican driver was starting a lap to move forward, but Pérez crashed into the wall and is out of the classification.
Horner’s face again 😩#F1xFSMX #HungianGP pic.twitter.com/gi2Ra7sxms
— FOX Sports MX (@FOXSportsMX) July 20, 2024
Christian Horner regretted the elimination of Checo Pérez
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has been clear about the situation of Checo Pérez after his accident in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix and the director of the Milton Keynes house admits that they cannot maintain this situation where Max Verstappen seems to be fighting alone in the constructors’ championship.
“I think I’ve shown myself to be very patient, but this was really the last thing he and the team needed,” Horner told broadcaster Viaplay before issuing a warning.
He added: “Any discussions we have with him will of course take place internally and not in front of the media. But of course we cannot run on one leg.”
Keep reading:
Checo Pérez denied the existence of performance clauses in his new contract with Red Bull
“They will have to get him out of the car soon”: Jenson Button launches harsh criticism of Checo Pérez
Checo Pérez extended his bad moment by retiring at Silverstone