Sergio Perez sorry for qualifying crash at Canadian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen celebrates pole
Perez crashed at turn three during Q2 to damage his hopes of closing the gap on Red Bull team-mate Verstappen in the drivers' championship; watch the Canadian GP live on Sky Sports F1 from 5.30pm on Sunday, with lights out at 7pm
Last Updated: 19/06/22 7:05pm
Sergio Perez apologised for the crash which saw him qualify a lowly 13th for the Canadian Grand Prix, as Sky Sports F1 expert Danica Patrick questioned whether he is feeling the pressure of battling for the drivers' championship.
Perez, who sits second in the drivers' standings behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, dramatically crashed into the wall during Q2 on Saturday, bringing out a red flag which ended his hopes of qualifying at the front of the grid.
Meanwhile, Verstappen mastered the wet conditions to secure pole and Perez will now need to work his way through the field on Sunday to make up for his error.
"A mistake from my side, so I am very sorry for my team. I let them down today unfortunately," the Mexican told Sky Sports.
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"I'm going to be thinking already for tomorrow and hopefully I am able to recover and get into strong points.
"I wasn't struggling with the brakes. They were on the cold side and I had a lock-up into turn 10 the lap before and flat-spotted them. That probably meant I was a bit out of shape. Going into turn three I became just a passenger as soon as I touched the brake.
"It can be tricky and difficult [in the rain] but that was just a mistake from my side.
"Tomorrow I will try to minimise the damage and attack from lap one onwards and see where we end up."
It is the first time Perez hasn't reached Q3 since Qatar last year and comes after he overtook Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the standings to become Verstappen's main championship rival.
That led Sky Sports pundit Patrick to question whether the mistake was linked to his desire to keep pace with his team-mate.
"You really get that feeling from him as he's talking," she said.
"Obviously you are down when you make mistakes and these things happen, but I just can't help but feel there's a weight of the championship on his mind too and not letting Max get too far out ahead now he's second in the points.
"If he does then that will shift the dynamic of his ability to race for the championship against him. There's a lot riding on this point of the season and keeping his momentum going."
Verstappen still expects close race
Verstappen dominated Friday's practice sessions before snatching pole at the front of a mixed-up grid which sees his other main championship rival Charles Leclerc starting 19th following an engine penalty.
However, he is still expecting Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who starts third, to challenge him in a close race.
"We were there all the time when it mattered and when the track was drying out a little bit, that helped our car performance. the car became a little bit more competitive. I am definitely happy with that.
"You don't always need to start on pole position to win races. The most important thing is to have the pace and in the long runs it was very closely matched between us and Ferrari so I still expect it to be a close battle tomorrow.
"Of course Charles and Checo have to come from behind, but Carlos is close so that will be a good battle for sure."
