Sergio Perez says one of his bodyguards was shot by thieves attempting to rob his car in Mexico, while he was away competing at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver was taking part in qualifying when reports emerged that a bodyguard had been shot in Guadalajara, and the Mexican confirmed there had been an attack after the session.

“Basically, they tried to rob the car of my security,” Perez said. “They hurt one of my security guys with one shot, but they basically tried to rob the car. Nothing else going on. He’s in good condition. The police got the robbers.”

Perez confirmed that the situation is now under control adding: “My family is good.”

Perez also had a tough afternoon on Saturday in Monaco from a sporting sense, qualifying ninth for the race in Monaco after a poor run in Q3.

“It was a disaster, we changed our approach, we were making good progress through qualifying, Q2 we did a good step. But the track was cooling down and we changed our approach into Q3 run one, which I had no front end at all, the tires were very cold, then the second attempt the lap was going well until I hit a lot of traffic and basically lost a lot of lap time going through them.

“I certainly should have improved what I did in Q2 by a tenth or two, a 10.8, so probably P6. Not a lot better but yeah it is what it is.”