Sergio Perez has admitted he’s going by way of a “tough patch” on observe after he misplaced “belief” in his automotive after his Monaco qualifying shunt.

The Purple Bull driver continues to carry second place within the drivers’ championship, however is 99 factors behind his staff mate Max Verstappen. Perez has failed to achieve Q3 in grand prix qualifying for the final 5 consecutive race weekends, a run which began when he crashed out of Q1 through the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Nevertheless chatting with media forward of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Perez mentioned his poor run of qualifying outcomes are “not a priority” for him.

“I believe if you have a look at these dangerous qualifyings, there’s all the time been totally different conditions that we haven’t handled nearly as good as we should always have handled them,” Perez mentioned in response to a query from RaceFans. “However there has all the time been some exterior components. It hasn’t been pure tempo, let’s put it that manner.

“Actually if you find yourself not totally assured with the automotive… I believe what occurred in Monaco in all probability introduced me a step again and it has taken me a while to totally belief the automotive the way in which I used to be doing it. And then you definitely add the exterior issue with the changeable situations after which there’s a bit extra of a discrepancy.”

This week Purple Bull has changed AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo, who as soon as occupied the identical seat Perez now occupies. Perez says convincing Purple Bull to retain him of their automotive long-term is “in my palms”.

“I’m a winner, I don’t like having dangerous weekends, it’s not what I what I’m right here for,” he mentioned. “I’d fairly be at residence doing one thing else.

“I’m right here as a result of I do know that I can do it, I’ve performed it earlier than. Individuals simply on the couch neglect that how a lot within the little particulars we’re. You’ve seen it with different drivers, different groups – they’ve had tough durations however they don’t have 20 replacements after every session, like they do with a Purple Bull driver.”

Perez says he’s “assured” that he’ll take pleasure in a greater weekend on the Hungarian Grand Prix. He has been engaged on the issues he has skilled had because the final race at Silverstone, the place he admitted he has discovered the automotive notably difficult in blended situations.

Gallery: First footage from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix weekend“I’ve performed my work, I’ve performed my preparation and I’m able to ship a robust weekend – that’s all I can do,” he mentioned.

“We’ve been performing some good work with the engineers over the week and we’ve got some concepts for right here and hopefully we’re capable of simply basically have a greater platform the place we could be extra comfy and if there’s a change of situations, then we don’t have such a distinction.”

With staff mate Verstappen operating away with the world championship for a second successive yr, Perez goals to return to his early-season type that noticed him win two of the opening 4 rounds of the championship in Saudi Arabia and Baku.

“Nothing’s immediate in F1, as we all know,” he mentioned. “However on the similar time, we simply should look again at my season – if I’m second on the planet championship, it’s for a purpose.

“I’ve had a tough patch, it’s true, however I’ve additionally had a fantastic begin to the season. So that you’re simply balancing out taking a look at these good races – what labored – taking a look at these dangerous races – what didn’t – and simply guarantee that we make progress weekend after weekend.”

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