Red Bull Motorsport Advisor, Helmut Marko, has revealed that Sergio Perez has used up all his spare parts after crashing out during Free Practice 1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Mexican driver’s frustrating streak of poor performances continued when he lost control of his car just four minutes into the opening session at the Hungaroring, veering onto the grass at Turn 5 and slamming into the barriers.
Update on Perez car ruined
Red Bull had recently introduced a new upgrade package for both Perez and their championship-leading driver, Max Verstappen, with the most significant change being the revamped sidepods.
However, Perez’s unfortunate accident caused severe damage to the left-hand side sidepod, front wing, suspension, and floor of his RB19.
Red Bull’s skilled mechanics managed to repair Perez’s car in time for FP2, but an unfortunate lock-up during his Soft tire run left him struggling on the leaderboard.
No more spares for Perez
The bigger concern lies in the fact that Perez has already exhausted his allocation of spare upgrade parts for the entire race weekend. With final practice, qualifying, and the race yet to come, this situation poses a significant challenge for the team.
“He came onto the grass, and because of the rain, it was slippery. So that’s why he flew off,” Marko explained regarding Perez’s crash.
Regarding the spare parts situation, Marko clarified, “We have enough spares, for both cars.”
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When questioned further about whether Perez was racing without any spare parts, Marko confirmed, “No [he has none].”
On the positive side, Max Verstappen does have a set of spare parts still available on his side of the garage, giving the team some reassurance for his race prospects.
As Red Bull aims to continue their championship fight, the team will need to navigate the challenging situation with Perez’s limited spare parts and hope for a strong performance from Verstappen to maintain their edge on the competition.
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Chaos 💥 at 💥 the 💥 start #HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/GPLOSk596H
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2023
