Perez left downbeat at Red Bull: 'You can tell by his face'

It's been a poor few weeks in F1 for Sergio Perez, and things aren't looking up in Spain after a P13 in FP2. Damon Hill has highlighted how the pressure is affecting Perez in the Red Bull seat going into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

After the disappointment of the Monaco Grand Prix with a Q1 elimination and a lap 1 crash, he would have been buoyed by the news of his contract being extended at Red Bull Racing for another two years. However, he could only repay his faith with another Q1 exit and crash at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Perez also received a three-place grid penalty after driving with an unsafe car on the track as a result of his crash, compiling the misery on the Mexican as he prepares for the Spanish Grand Prix. Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya would not have been the start to the weekend that Perez would have wanted either, backing up a P5 in FP1 with a disappointing P13 in FP2.

How Perez compounded errors

Speaking after FP2 on Sky Sports, Bernie Collins and former F1 World Champion Damon Hill both had their say on Perez's poor form, with Collins, a former Aston Martin strategy engineer, saying Perez's penalty will hinder his chances of a positive result.

"The start of the year was very strong again, but we get to this point of the year, and they are struggling. Red Bull are where they are in the Constructors' Championship because they don't have both cars consistently scoring the big points that we had at the beginning of the season. And I think, unfortunately, for Checo for the rest of the weekend, that penalty is going to hurt.

"It's nice being on a track that you can overtake," continued Collins, "But that's a mistake from the weekend before. Potentially his team's mistake. But regardless of how he does, he's still got to carry that into the race."

After building up a huge points lead in the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's gap at the top has shrunk massively as a result of Perez's poor performances. Hill then weighed in on what is happening with the Mexican, and he says that there is not a lot of enjoyment coming from Perez right now.

"He's under pressure," said the 1996 World Champion. "He's signed a new deal and everything, so he should be happy. But he doesn't want to be where he is. He has a problem, and now, even in an FP2 session, he's not had a great run. He's now going into tomorrow and he's not quite sure about the car. So he's not happy, you can tell this by his face."