Perez remains convinced he can stay at Red Bull

"Really, really tricky, very difficult, especially in the beginning," Perez told us after his failure in Q1. "So, as I was trying to warm up the tyres going into turn nine when I downshifted, I basically lost the rear end quite badly. And I went out of the track, and cold tyres, and it was completely full of water outside of the track. So I just ended up going into the gravel. I couldn't stop the car. I couldn't go straight. Very unfortunate incident."

Perez, however, did not argue that the incident was a result of the pressure he was feeling: "No, no, no, no. That has nothing to do with it. I'm fully focused on my job. I'm fully focused on getting the performance out of myself, the form that I know where I can be. And yesterday, we had a very positive day. In the end, it was a good day. The right direction. So, yeah, head down. And it's a matter of time before we turn around the situation."

Perez sure he can stay at Red Bull

Perez then also admitted that he has not discussed his future with Horner. He is therefore fully confident that he will continue driving for Red Bull in the near future: "Yes, of course. Like I said, I'm fully committed to the team. I'm fully committed to my career. I have a contract with the team and I will turn things around. It's not something that distracts me or anything like that. It's something that is done and dusted and I just want to get back to my form and focus on the important things."

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.