Sergio Perez is out of Monaco Grand Prix qualifying after crashing his Red Bull in the opening session of the blue-riband event.

Last year’s winner of this year’s race, lost control of his Red Bull emerging out of Sainte Devote, smashing his left-rear wheel against a barrier, which left his RB19 stranded in the middle of the circuit.

The incident was a carbon copy of the one involving Williams’ Alex Albon during the first practice session on Friday.

Perez came into the event vying with team-mate Max Verstappen for this year’s drivers’ title, with the Mexican 14 points behind the reigning two-time F1 champion, but he will now disastrously start at the back of the grid, or potentially the pit lane if the team chooses.

Team principal Christian Horner had offered a pre-race assessment that both of his drivers were “in great shape” coming into this race.

Horner added: “You know, the four one-two finishes, five victories that we’ve achieved so far this year have been phenomenal.

“And it’s three-two on countback (in terms of wins) with the two drivers, so they’re both at the top of their game.

“It’s a great situation, great dynamic for the team to have.”

This incident, however, will have greatly affected Perez’s confidence and championship challenge, with the 33-year-old starting ?tth on the grid.