“Nothing to do with it” - Sergio Perez shrugs off pressure questions after latest Q1 exit

Sergio Perez has dismissed suggestions that the pressure is getting to him after he was knocked out in Q1 following an off-moment in F1 qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

Perez lost control of his Red Bull at the right-hander of Copse in Q1, running wide before pirouetting into the gravel trap.

With track conditions improving, and Perez unable to take part in qualifying, he was knocked out in Q1, leaving him 19th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Reflecting on his error, Perez told media at Silverstone, where Crash.net are present in the paddock: “T9 was tricky, really difficult, especially in the beginning, as I was trying to warm up the tyres going into Turn 9, when I downshifted I basically lost the rear end quite badly and I went out of the track.

“Cold tyres and it was completely soaked of water outside of the track so I just ended up going in the gravel, couldn’t stop the car, couldn’t go straight, very unfortunate incident.”

According to reports in the German press, Perez’s future at Red Bull isn’t certain despite signing a new deal earlier this year.

However, Perez shrugged off questions that pressure caused his latest mistake.

“No, no no no, that has nothing to do with it, I’m fully focused on my job,” he added. “I’m fully focused on getting the performance out of myself.

“I know where I can be, yesterday we had a very positive day, things were looking in the right direction, so yeah, head down and it’s a matter of time before we turn around the situation.”

Perez also confirmed that he’s yet to speak to either Helmut Marko or Christian Horner following qualifying.

The Mexican insists his main focus is returning to his early season form after a run of difficult results, particularly on Saturdays.

“No, no, nothing about it, fully focused on my job, which is to deliver tomorrow, so I don’t have to think about anything else,” he added.

“The most concerned about it is myself, so I want to get back to my form as early as possible, and yeah, just fully focus on my form.”