Under-pressure Perez crashes in opening minutes of FP1 in Hungary
Perez caused an early red flag as he lost control of his Red Bull at Turn 5.
The Mexican dipped his front-left wheel on the grass on entry into the corner, causing him to spin into the barrier.
“No I cannot believe this,” Perez said over team radio.
It’s a disastrous start for Perez, who has endured a torrid run of form in recent rounds.
Perez has failed to make Q3 in the last five races, finishing in the top three just once in that time.
Daniel Ricciardo’s return to AlphaTauri has no doubt put additional pressure on Perez to perform, given the Australian has openly admitted he wants to return to Red Bull.
Speaking to Sky following Perez's crash, Red Bull boss Christian Horner said: "It was unfortunate, he just put a wheel on the grass and made a mistake into Turn 5. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him yet but I will do after the session, but hopefully he won’t have lost too much through this session because in these conditions people aren’t getting many laps in. But obviously not an ideal way to start the weekend.
"It was obviously the start of his first lap, so he came through Turn 4 ok, he just misjudged it and it just swapped ends on him. You could obviously hear the frustration in his voice and he stuck his hands up. It is what it is."
