Perez out with concussion and thigh strain

Mexican driver Sergio Perez will miss the Monaco Grand Prix after suffering concussion and a sprained thigh when he lost control of his Sauber and crashed during qualifying on Saturday.

The Sauber driver was about to come out of a tunnel when the front of the car slid over to the right and slammed into the tunnel barrier. It then span round and hit a tire wall on the circuit. It was the third crash of the day.

He was taken to the Princess Grace hospital in Monaco where he was to be kept overnight, and the team said he will miss Sunday's race.

"It is with great relief that the Sauber F1 team received the news that Sergio Perez has no serious injuries," the Sauber team said in a statement. "The doctors said Perez had suffered concussion and a sprained thigh, but no broken bones and, following a scan, they could find no further injuries."

A medical crew rushed to Perez's car, and a giant blanket was immediately draped over it. After a few minutes the battered car was lifted off the track.

Sauber said it found "no indication there was a technical failure" in Perez's car.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg and Hispania's Vitantonio Liuzzi were both unharmed after crashing in practice earlier Saturday.

Rosberg crashed at almost exactly the same spot as Perez, who is racing in his debut season, but the Mexican's accident was more violent.

He was too wide coming out of the tunnel, and the impact of hitting the side the tunnel side projected his car sideways out of the exit tunnel and about 30 meters down into the tire wall.

One of the Sauber car's tires rolled down the track seconds after the car had slammed into the tire wall, and another incident was thankfully avoided as there was no other car behind Perez.

Qualifying was suspended with only a few minutes left, and drivers sat waiting in their cars for it to resume.

Early into Saturday's morning practice, Rosberg walked away unharmed when the German driver ploughed into a crash barrier after flying out of the tunnel and swerving off to the right.

Toward the end, a second red flag went up when Liuzzi crashed sideways into the barriers at the Sainte Devolte turn. The Italian was also unharmed and his Hispania car was airlifted away.