the mexican pilot Sergio Perezfrom Red Bull, had a nightmare start to the weekend of the Hungarian Grand Prixcrashing two minutes into Friday’s opening practice before rain made the rest of the session difficult.
The Mexican, second in the general classification, but 99 points behind his teammate and double world champion Max Verstappen after 10 races, generated red flags when he hit the wall of tires at turn five.
“I can’t believe it”Perez said over team radio, as the car appeared to have sustained heavy damage to the front end.
I touched the grass I think, under braking, I lost control.
The Mexican has not qualified in the top 10 in his last five races, and has only once been on the podium in the same period, and he needs a good weekend with Daniel RicciardoRed Bull reserve, increasingly in the spotlight as a possible replacement.
Pérez missed the remainder of the session, with the car taken back to the pits on a truck for the mechanics to begin what could be extensive repairs.
Christian Hornerhead of the team, stated.
It’s obviously frustrating… hopefully (the damage) is mostly limited to the front right corner, which I hope can be fixed in time for the next session.
It was unlucky, he put a wheel on the grass and made a mistake at turn five. Let’s hope he didn’t lose too much in this session because in these conditions people don’t do too many laps. But obviously not an ideal way to start the weekend.
George RussellThe Mercedes driver, who took his first career pole position in Hungary last year, was quickest with his final lap time of one minute and 38.795 seconds.
The rain began to fall during the stop and then intensified.
McLaren’s Australian Oscar Piastri was second in times, with Lance Stroll third for Aston Martin and Lando Norris fourth for McLaren.
Verstappen and Ricciardo they were among the seven drivers who did not set a time.
Seven-time Mercedes world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has won a record eight times in Hungary, was one of the seven. The Briton got out of his car before the end of the session with nothing to gain from being out on the track in the rain.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz also caused red flags when his car hit the barriers at turn three with 14 minutes remaining.
🏁 END OF FP1 🏁
TOP 10
Russell
piastri
Stroll
norris
alonso
boots
leclerc
zhou
sergeant
hulkenberg#HungarianGP #F1—Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023
(With information from Reuters)
Reference-aristeguinoticias.com
