Sergio Perez cut an apologetic figure after the Canadian Grand Prix, taking to social media to publicly say sorry to Red Bull for his disappointing performance in Montreal.
This came after the 34-year-old stated he needs a "straight-forward weekend" to re-set his poor run of form, which continued at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Having endured disappointing rounds in Imola and Monaco, which saw him fail to reach Q3 in qualifying and pick up just four points, the newly-extended Red Bull driver would have hoped to have had a stronger weekend in Montreal.
That did not happen and Perez started the race P16, after a poor qualifying display saw him knocked out of the grid-setting session in Q1 - far short of what the RB20 was capable of.
On the opening lap of the grand prix, the Mexican tangled with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, damaging his front wing. Still languishing down the order later on, the six-time race winner spun his Red Bull at Turn 6, finding the barrier and critically damaging his rear wing, ending his race.
"Just having a straight-forward weekend," Perez replied to media including RacingNews365 when asked what he needs to re-group and re-set. "I think the pace is there, the confidence is there.
"I obviously want to take my time to analyse everything together with the team and make sure that we are able to come back strong... I did a mistake, and I think it's time to re-group, put our heads down. There is a long season, the races ago, we've been on form, so there is no doubt that I cannot be back to that."
Article continues after social media post.
Perez concedes to 'difficult weekend' in Canada
Despite undoubtedly being out of the race following his error at Turn 6, Perez opted to return the ailing RB20 to the pits, instead of parking it safely.
This caused him to catch the ire of the stewards, who punished him with a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix for driving his car in an unsafe condition - which will potentially prevent an issue-free event in Barcelona, too. Red Bull were fined €25,000 for the incident.
It should have been a positive weekend for Perez, who had just signed a contract extension which will see him stay with the team through 2025 and most likely 2026 - when F1 ushers in the new era of regulations. However, as highlighted by the driver himself, it was not.
"Yeah, it was a difficult weekend," he conceded. "First part of the race was compromised with the damage with Gasly. Second part of the race was looking a lot better. Third part of the race, we were just stuck there - there was only one line [and] we couldn't get by.
"In the end, I was coming back and made a mistake in Turn 6, which was one of the most difficult corners, where a lot of drivers made mistakes. But, unfortunately, I was one of those few who couldn't control the car."
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