"Just a mistake": Sergio Perez owns up to his crash during 2023 F1 Hungarian GP FP1

Sergio Perez admitted his mistake of going off-track and crashing during the first practice session at the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP.

At the start of a wet practice session, the Mexican lost control of the car and crashed on his first out lap. This was mainly because he went slightly off-track, which caused his tires to come into contact with grass and lose grip.

After the session, Perez reflected on how it was his mistake and praised the Red Bull pit crew for quickly fixing the car for him to drive out in the second practice session. He said:

“It was just a mistake from my side. But the guys have done a tremendous job to get the car together and get some running in FP2. At least we got some good data to look through.”

In the second practice session, the 33-year-old drove 14 laps and clocked 1:18:978 as his fastest lap, which was quite slow compared to other drivers. Hence, he ended up 18th.

Since Sergio Perez is going through a dip in his performance ever since the Miami GP, even this minor mistake and crash in practice looked big to many F1 fans and pundits. It is safe to say that Perez is under a bit of pressure, especially because he is driving the fastest car on the grid by a country mile and was still unable to perform well in qualifying.

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Sergio Perez not concentrating on Daniel Ricciardo's return to F1 grid with Red Bull's sister team

Since Sergio Perez has not been able to perform at his best since the Miami GP, there have been several talks about him getting replaced by someone else. After Daniel Ricciardo replaced Nyck de Vries mid-season to join AlphaTauri, many thought that the pressure would somewhat increase on the Mexican as well.

However, Perez himself is not too concerned about it. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, he said:

"No, I’m not a guy… I’ve been in F1 for 13 years, so I’m not a guy who thinks so much further ahead. I’ve been with the engineers, I don’t even have the time to discuss what’s going on with Daniel. I think it’s a great opportunity for him, and that’s it."

He added:

"I’m focusing on Hungary and then Belgium and not really thinking about 2025, you know? It’s such a far world ahead, it’s nonsense to think that far away."

As of now, even the seniors at Red Bull have clearly stated that they are behind Sergio Perez and want to help him improve.