20/05/2022
NEWS STORY
Max Verstappen: "Overall it's been a good day, the long runs look positive so we can be happy with that. It has been a bit tricky to find the right balance with the heat and we still have a lot of work to do over one lap. It's tough on the tyres around here, we are not on top of that just yet but at least we know the weather will be consistent tomorrow. I'm looking forward to pushing hard as a Team come qualifying tomorrow. It was also good to have Juri with us in FP1, I hope he enjoyed his first session in the RB18."
Sergio Perez: "Everything comes fast when you miss a session, I was getting up to speed this afternoon and experiencing the tyre degradation - it means you basically have two laps because it is not a track that helps you with the tyres. You have one lap to read the balance and then after that you are just getting up to speed but you don't have great grip. I was able to get a read on the long runs and hopefully overnight I can find the time I need to be in contention for the fight for pole. I will do some extra work on low fuel in the morning during FP3 to see which direction to take but we are confident we know. It was nice to be able to lend my car to Juri for the morning, I think he had a good time out there and did some important work for the Team."
Juri Vips: "My experience today was amazing. Just to drive on the Grand Prix weekend is an incredible moment. When it first got announced I just kept thinking about when I first started karting and it was just a hobby and now I am going to get in the car. It was a busy session, we did lots of aero mapping so we never planned to do any push laps. I can see why F1 is so hard because these sessions are very hectic! You learn a lot driving, as a junior driver travelling to races with the Team you get to hear the drivers' feedback but to feel first hand how the car feels is useful for me but also useful for the work I do on the simulator."