With his recent poor run of form, there was mounting speculation about Sergio Perez’s future at Red Bull heading into the Hungarian GP weekend. Unfortunately for him, his crash during Q1 made matters worse.
Perez, however, refused to give up. No matter how bad things got, he never considered quitting and he had his children in mind when he decided the same. After his Q1 exit at the Hungaroring, Perez said,
“Mentally it’s really tough 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 the character I want to show.”
Perez, a six-time race winner in F1, has had a long F1 career and is 34 years old. The amount of pressure he is under has also taken a toll on him and is a reason why he is finding it difficult to get out of his slump. However, to set an example for his kids, he continues to fight.
️ | Checo on if he’s still enjoying F1 despite his recent difficult weekends
“I wouldn’t say fun, I would say a challenge. Mentally it’s really tough 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… pic.twitter.com/LzUzssqXnh
— RBR News (@redbulletin) July 20, 2024
Perez lost his RB20 at turn 8 at the Hungaroring on Saturday. This sent the Mexican driver into the barriers, which added to the damage repair costs for his team.
The 34-year-old is keen to turn his fortunes around and believes that he can regain his form, as it wasn’t too long ago that he was pulling in the results Red Bull desired.
At the same time, Perez admitted that he would always be scrutinized because of being a part of Red Bull.
Perez testing Red Bull’s patience
Perez last qualified in the top seven in Miami, which was in the first week of May. His form dipped thereafter, and he hasn’t recovered, which has hurt Red Bull tremendously in their Constructors’ Title defense.
Red Bull continued to grow frustrated, and Team Principal Christian Horner did not hide it after the Hungarian GP Qualifying.
Horner explained,
“These kinds of discussions should happen internally, and not through the media, but we cannot keep walking one-legged.”
Christian Horner on if they have run out of patience for Checo
“These kinds of discussions should happen internally, and not through the media, but we cannot keep walking one-legged.”
[@viaplay] pic.twitter.com/pEMzQZKYl2
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) July 20, 2024
Before the Hungarian GP, it was reported that Perez could be sacked in the upcoming summer break. The Guadalajara-born driver denied it, but if he keeps underperforming the way he is, Red Bull may be forced to pull the plug.
