Sergio Pérez has no intention of giving up. Not just because of his children. He feels that the end of the tunnel is near, he just needs a cleaner weekend.
Sergio Pérez bled for the second time in a row in Q1 due to an accident. He lost control of his car on the wet asphalt at turn 8 of the Hungaroring, as a result of which he was only 16th on the grid for Sunday.
Pérez’s fate at Red Bull seems highly doubtful. With each blunder, he gets closer to being let go by his team despite his existing contract. During the summer break, they will discuss how to proceed, and the time for repairs is getting less and less.
Pérez was asked after what happened on Saturday if he could still enjoy racing. “Yeah, really… I wouldn’t say it’s enjoyable, more like a challenge. Mentally it’s really hard and it would be the easiest thing to give up after the kind of career I’ve had.”
“I could say enough was enough, but I don’t want to teach that to my kids and I don’t want to show myself to be that type of person in front of them. I want to come back, I will come back, I will not give up!”
Pérez continues to say that what happens this or next spa weekend will not change his position. “No. Like I said, nothing changes. I’m not worried, I’m really determined, I want to turn my season around and focus on my performance.”
Sergio Pérez (Photo: Red Bull/Getty Images)
“It hurts that it happened again, especially when I’m going through a period like this. But I am determined, I want to translate. I think… I had a really good day yesterday, a very promising day and we got some really good information about the long stages, so hopefully we’ll have a good pace, we’ll work our way through the field and get some points.”
What annoys Pérez the most is that until his accident, he felt like he was finally on track.
“We feel that the car is improving, we are getting to know ourselves more and more with it, so progress is clear. This was my best Friday this year, so light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to get through it. I hope his day will come tomorrow.”
“I just need a clean weekend, smooth conditions, no variety, to make the most of it. I visited the factory before the weekend, trying to understand how we could get into a better situation with the car’s settings. We’ve definitely made some nice progress, so we’ll keep pushing hard.”
“I will do everything in my power to turn the situation around and do everything I can to win the constructors’ title” he promised.
SErgio Pérez (Photo: XPB)
The latter is a basic expectation from him. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said:
“We are very aware that in the last five races Checo has scored fifteen points and that is unsustainable. This will backfire unless it changes. And Checo is very aware of that.”
“It will be difficult for him to change from this sixteenth place, but our goal is to score points again.”
“The problem is that the competitors of other teams are on the same level as their teammates. There are two McLarens in front, now two Astons too. There are the two RBs. You can’t allow there to be a big difference between the two cars.”
