Perez crashes, is safe
Force India’s Sergio flies into barriers upside down at F1 practice
Budapest (Hungary),
July 24: Three days after the funeral of Jules Bianchi, Formula One experienced another “heart in mouth” moment on Friday morning when Sergio Perez survived a spectacular accident in opening free practice for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Mexican driver lost control of his Force India car, hit the barriers and flipped upside down, but was able to walk away unhurt. The session was red-flagged and delayed by 17 minutes before it restarted only to be halted again due to debris on the circuit with four minutes remaining.
“It was a really bad accident, pretty unlucky,” said Perez. “The track was dirty and I went on the AstroTurf and I hit the barrier on the other side of the track at a very bad angle, so it made the car roll over. But everything’s alright. It was a strange accident. I thought it was under control, but the AstroTurf was very dirty which is why I went into the wall,” he added.
Perez ran wide on the exit of Turn 11 at the Hungaroring with 32 minutes remaining in the interrupted session when the right rear corner of his car appeared to suffer a technical failure, possibly with its suspension.
Perez’s car spun across the track and, after swiping the barriers on the right, then turned upside down as it landed back on the track. The driver was able to climb from the car with help from track assistants and appeared unhurt as he walked away.