Sergio Perez was physically unhurt but mentally as twisted as his car after crashing out in his very first lap of practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix… Mexican must get back on track or Red Bull could turn to Daniel Ricciardo

Sergio Perez can sense Daniel Ricciardo tap, tap, tapping at his shoulder.

That seemed obvious as the Mexican pirouetted into a tyre barrier in practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Mexican was out of sorts and under pressure even before Ricciardo was drafted in last week at Red Bull’s sister team, AlphaTauri, where he replaces struggling rookie Nyck de Vries. But now he may be fearing the obvious. That if Ricciardo shapes up, which is by no means certain, and he continues to flail, he could be dropped.

Nobody is saying that at Red Bull, not publicly. But the joke on the Verstappen side of the garage moments after Perez’s crash indicated otherwise. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport adviser, was spotted on the phone. ‘He’s ringing Daniel,’ the cry went up.

The mood on Perez’s side, in contrast, was sepulchral. He trails Verstappen by 99 points after 10 races and has failed to make Q3 on the last five occasions despite the double world champion taking pole position each time.

Sergio Perez crashed at turn five early in the first practice session at the Hungarian GP 

His mistake caused a red flag, bringing proceedings to a temporary close early in the weekend

Perez has suffered a terrible reversal since he secured pole in Miami and sat just six points behind Verstappen, who went on to win. Perez crashed in qualifying in Monaco next race and has never rediscovered his confidence since.

That was evident just four minutes into the weekend’s first running here in Budapest when he ran on to the grass at Turn 5, then still dry, and spun across the run-off area and nestled into the wall. He was physically unhurt but mentally as twisted as his car.

While Perez is contracted through next year, Red Bull’s hierarchy can be black hat judges when it comes to below-par drivers. The 33-year-old has, though, credit in the bank for his sterling work as No 2 over the last couple of seasons that have seen Verstappen claim the title.

It is by no means certain Ricciardo would be any better. Red Bull bosses could barely believe how much he had fallen off when he first went on the simulator on his return to the stable at the end of last year. They practically dismissed his chances of ever making it back into F1.

Perez is finding out as Valtteri Bottas did against Lewis Hamilton that going up against Verstappen each week is as futile as putting up a brolly in a typhoon. Bottas, who was always trying to reboot, even finished fifth in the standings to Hamilton’s first place in 2018.

Perez, who locked up in a topsy-turvy second practice session, finished the day 18th, with Verstappen an unaccustomed 11th, though that was a result of choosing to save tyres. Charles Leclerc was fastest for Ferrari.

Pressure is mounting on Perez as lacklustre qualifying performances have hampered results

Daniel Ricciardo is back in F1 at Red Bull feeder team AlphaTauri and wants a return to the top