Hungarian GP Practice One: Sergio Perez crashes upgraded Red Bull as George Russell tops wet Budapest session

Sergio Perez crashed just three minutes into opening practice in Budapest as George Russell was fastest in the rain; watch all sessions from the Hungarian GP live on Sky Sports F1, P2 starts at 4pm Friday; F1 Juniors will be live on Sky Showcase & Sky Sports Mix on Sunday

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Sergio Perez had a moment to forget in first practice as his ‘elementary’ mistake resulted in him crashing into the barrier

Sergio Perez crashed in the early stages of Practice 1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix as George Russell topped the timesheets at a wet Hungaroring.

Perez’s car went off just three minutes into the session as he heavily damaged his upgraded Red Bull, that has reprofiled sidepods and new brake cooling.

On his first flying lap, Perez dipped his left tyres into the grass, which immediately sent him into a spin and into the outside wall.

The Mexican said on the radio “I cannot believe this” on a weekend where there is extra scrutiny about his future after failing to reach Q3 at the last five events and Daniel Ricciardo replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.

“We say it’s Monaco without the barriers but these barriers found Sergio Perez pretty hard indeed. That’s all it takes. This track, you have to have your eyes everywhere,” reacted Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson.

“It is narrow and comes at you thick and fast. I’m surprised he was pushing so hard so soon. I know you want to get up to speed as quick as possible but this is qualifying kinda stuff – taking the car to the edge of the track.

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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz takes a closer look at the new Red Bull upgrades for the Hungarian GP

“For me it looks like he was pushing to the extremes and more so of what the track was able to offer.”

Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick added: “That’s one of the worst as a driver. Letting your team down and knowing they are going to have to work so hard and just that doubt and frustration they have. You feel really guilty.”

Horner: Not an ideal way to start weekend

Christian Horner has publicly backed Perez despite his recent disappointing performances and insists Red Bull will retain the same driver line-up for 2024.

The Red Bull team boss says Perez simply “misjudged” the positioning of his car and “stuck his hands up” to apologise.

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Red Bull boss Christian Horner says it’s great to see Daniel Ricciardo back in the sport and expects him to make a claim for a Red Bull seat in 2025

“The damage, we haven’t got the car back, but hopefully it’s contained mainly to the front right corner, which hopefully will be repairable in time for the next session,” he told Sky Sports F1 during the session.

“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.”

Sainz also hits the wall

Following Perez’s crash, the session resumed with 49 minutes to go but rain began to fall at the Hungaroring. Most drivers went out on dry tyres but had to crawl back to the pit lane on a damp track, so the track was largely quiet for a period, with dry weather forecast for the remainder of the weekend.

Carlos Sainz also hit the barriers but was able to carry on as he spun at the fast right-hander at Turn 3. Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the middle of the corner and hit the barriers on the inside with the side of his car.

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Carlos Sainz gets his Ferrari stuck on the kerb after spinning off during a wet P1 at the Hungarian GP

It initially looked like he beached his car, so the red flag was called, but he managed to carry on and the session was resumed with 11 minutes to go.

Only three drivers had set a lap at this point – Logan Sargeant, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas – but most drivers emerged onto the track for the final part of the session to get a feel of the conditions.

Oscar Piastri and George Russell traded top spot in the final minutes and it was the Mercedes driver who came out on top with a 1:38.795, which was 0.359s faster than Piastri.

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