Is Perez still having fun in F1? 'I wouldn't put it that way, but I don't want to teach my kids that'

Is Perez still enjoying F1?

His disappointing performances of late - and the difficult races that often accompany them - raise the question of whether Perez actually still enjoys Formula 1. "Yes, I definitely like it," replied the Red Bull driver, only to adjust his answer slightly: "I wouldn't say fun, I would say a challenge. Mentally it's really tough and the easiest way will be just to give up after the career I've had, just to say it's been enough, but it's not what I want to teach my kids. It's not the character I want to show," he told GPblog. 

"I think it's important to turn things around, get back to our form, because it was not that long ago. It's just one after the other. But you've seen it with many other drivers. They've had difficult weekends, but probably when you are at Red Bull, it's a lot more notorious and I just want to get back and I will get back. I will not give up," said the Mexican determinedly.

Unfortunate timing for Perez

When GPBlog asked what happened in Q1 of qualifying at the Hungaroring, Perez replied, "I lost it. I think I clipped the kerb and at that point, it was raining harder in Turn 8, so when I clipped the kerb it was quite late in the corner and it just sent me off completely into the wall."

The timing of his crash is particularly unfortunate given the discussions about his performance of late, Perez also realises himself. "In hindsight when you look at it, we were safe. We didn't need to do the lap, but you always know a lot afterwards. It hurts that it happened again, especially in the run that I'm going through. But I'm determined to turn this around," he continued, referring to his better performance in free practice.

Helmut Marko recently indicated that Red Bull would evaluate the performance of all drivers during the summer break and make a decision based on that. Perez, however, says he is still not worried. "No. Like I said before, nothing changes. Not worried. I'm fully determined to turn my season around and to focus on my performance," Perez said.

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.