Brundle baffled by latest Perez error

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle was at a loss to explain Sergio Perez's crash in FP1 for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Mexican dipped a wheel onto the grass on the entry to Turn 5, spinning into the barriers and causing extensive damage to the suspension, front wing, floor and sidepod after only four minutes of running at the Hungaroring.

Perez's mechanics were able to fix the damage in time for the Mexican to take part in FP2, in which he finished a lowly 18th, but Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko confirmed that Perez has no remaining spare parts for the rest of the weekend.

"I can't get my head around that. It is a rookie error," Brundle told Sky F1 of Perez’s crash.

"I think back to his victories earlier this year, his brilliant victory in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, his utterly brilliant victory last year in Singapore on a drying track in one of the most challenging races I have seen for a long time where he was perfect, and then he does that.

"I can only assume it's pressure because he didn't just clip the edge of the grass or the white line, he was on the grass by a metre or something and I can't get my head around it at all."

Perez crash hindered upgrade understanding

Perez's crash is the latest in a serious of errors the Mexican has made lately, with him having failed to qualify in the top ten for five consecutive races.

Red Bull have brought an upgrade package to the Hungarian Grand Prix featuring a new sidepod design, and Brundle noted that Perez's reduced running will have affected the team's understanding of the new parts.

"Red Bull want him glued to Verstappen's gearbox when he's not winning, maximising the points. What they don't want him doing is throwing all the new upgraded sidepods and bits and pieces in the fence.

"Then they didn't get much running in the other car in the dry when they've got quite an extreme cooling situation going on there with the sidepods.

"They needed to get up and running and the level that they're at, the experience the drivers have got at Red Bull, they did not need that car in the wall.

"Sergio is so rock solid. All through his career, he's not been that dynamic sometimes, he goes on the missing list sometimes, but he is fast, consistent, keeps the tyres intact.

"So all of these errors are so inconsistent with how his Formula 1 career has been."