‘It cannot happen again’ says Perez as he reflects on Budapest crash that caused fourth Q1 exit in six races

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez found himself in the barriers and out of qualifying for the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix – in a crash that will put his position at the team under ever closer scrutiny.

With the ninth-fastest time on the board in Q1 on a Hungaroring track peppered with rain, the Mexican rotated his Red Bull RB20 into the walls at the exit of Turn 8, causing significant damage to the rear end of the car.

LIVE COVERAGE: Follow all the action from qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix

The accident brought out the red flags, as Perez emerged unharmed and made his way back to the Red Bull garage.

It’s a garage that will have plenty of attention on it, however, with speculation continuing around Perez’s future at the team. Perez ended up P16 in the session after a late flurry of quick laps, to mark his fourth Q1 exit in the past six races – with the Mexican explaining the crash after qualifying.

“It was really, really bad timing,” he said. “I think at the time it was just raining a little bit harder in that particular part and I think when I turned in I clipped a bit the kerb and it was on the damp side. Unfortunately I ended up losing the car on the way in, quite late in the corner and I basically just became a passenger from that point on.”

Asked if the situation was particularly frustrating given the pressure surrounding his future, Perez replied: “Yeah, of course – it cannot happen again.

“But at the same time, it makes me more determined to get back to my form, to get back with this team and basically head down and obviously learn from these mistakes that have happened one after the other and take the positives.

“Yesterday I think we were the fastest car in the long runs, so hopefully we are able to see that in tomorrow’s race and make progress, minimise the damage and hopefully score some good points.”

READ MORE: Norris clinches pole ahead of Piastri and Verstappen during dramatic qualifying in Hungary as Perez crashes out

The crash, meanwhile, left Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner – who termed Perez’s recent run of poor form “unsustainable” after his P17 finish last time out in Silverstone – unimpressed, Horner telling F1 TV: “First of all, good that he’s okay because it was quite a big accident, but it’s a huge shame.

“Yesterday was looking quite strong for him and obviously tricky conditions but it’s the same for everybody. He was up on his lap time and I think he could see probably the rain on his visor and the car just got away from him. Unfortunately it’s done quite a lot of damage.”

On a day when McLaren secured their first front row lock-out since 2012, Max Verstappen was once again left to fly the flag for Red Bull solo in Q3, ending up in third place behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

“I tried,” the championship leader reflected, after missing out on pole by just 0.046s. “The whole weekend I think, we've been a little bit behind, and I think that was also the case in qualifying. I tried to make it as close as possible, but unfortunately just not enough.

“A bit difficult to pinpoint why that is. I would have liked a bit more grip but it's not there at the moment. P3's still very close. I just hope that for tomorrow, of course, the car is good in the race, and at least we can follow them and see what we can do there.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix as Norris takes pole and Perez and Tsunoda crash out

“Of course, I love competition,” Verstappen added, “but I would like to be on top of the competition and at the moment, I feel like we're chasing and having a few more difficult weekends – but I don't back out of a fight. But we're just in a bit of a tricky situation I guess.

“The last few races, I think especially McLaren has been really, really good in the race even compared to qualifying. Of course, today was a lot colder than expected I guess, with the clouds and a bit of the rain. Tomorrow's going to be quite a different day and I hope that that will help us.”