BUDAPEST, Hungary -- For the second race in a row Sergio Perez crashed out of the first qualifying session as the prospect of an early exit from Red Bull grew ever closer.
On a drying track, in remarkably similar conditions to two weeks ago at Silverstone, Perez spun out at Turn Eight and hit the wall.
The crash ended his qualifying session and left the car with heavy damage to the left-hand side. By the time the session finished, Perez was 16th, but he might have a pit-lane start if his crash has left Red Bull with a sizeable repair job.
McLaren's Lando Norris will start Sunday's race on pole with teammate Oscar Piastri on the front row. Perez's Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen finished third in qualifying.
On Thursday Perez, who recently signed a new deal through to the end of 2025, insisted his confidence in seeing out the rest of his contract. It now seems increasingly unlikely he might not even make it past the mid-way point of the current season.
With Perez out, RB's Daniel Ricciardo's timing was impeccable, with a late lap leaving him first at the end of Q1. The Australian driver would be a candidate to step up from the junior team and replace Perez were Red Bull to make that call over the upcoming summer break.
Red Bull has also been evaluating reserve driver Liam Lawson, who featured at three races in 2023 after Ricciardo broke his wrist. Were Ricciardo to step up, Lawson would likely step in at RB.
The pressure on Perez has ramped up over the past few races -- he has been in awful form since the start of May, leaving teammate Max Verstappen to do most of the heavy lifting in terms of points scoring. That appears set to be the case again at the Hungaroring, where Red Bull's rivals appear to be in strong form again.
Red Bull's position in the constructors' championship has become increasingly precarious as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes have all taken a step forward and won at least a race apiece since the Miami Grand Prix.
In the break between Great Britain and Hungary Lawson conducted a test of the team's RB20 in a promotional filming day. Although that was not the perfect chance to evaluate the Kiwi, it is understood he impressed Red Bull with the laps he did manage to complete.
Lawson only has three F1 races to his name having covered for the injured Daniel Ricciardo last year after the Australian broke his wrist at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Ricciardo returned to Red Bull's second team exactly a year ago, replacing Nyck de Vries in Hungary, and at the time appeared to be the logical replacement were Red Bull ever required to move on from Perez.
However, Ricciardo's own underwhelming form has left his future at the second team, now called RB, uncertain, although a strong result this weekend might completely change the situation once again.