01/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Finishing today's second session seventh, almost a second off the pace, Sergio Perez fears Red Bull is no match for Ferrari at Silverstone.
With the opening session essentially a write-off, it was all down to today's second session as drivers sought to find the perfect set-up while acquiring as much data as possible.
While Max Verstappen didn't appear particularly concerned at finishing the day fourth, behind Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, teammate Sergio Perez fears Red Bull may struggle this weekend.
"It wasn't a great session," said the Mexican. "I think from our preparation that we had and simulator, the car is miles off, so we assume that there's something going on that we need to understand.
"It was a very, very short long run there at the end," he added. "So yes, not a great start. We are a bit on the back foot, so we just have to understand what's going on with it.
"It's going to be pretty difficult but we've done it before," he insisted, "and I think as long as we are able to get things in the right place, you need the confidence around these fast corners, so as long as I'm able to get back my confidence, I think things should be alright."
Asked where he thought he was losing out, the Mexican replied: "We do have, I think, there are some suspicions on the aerodynamic side, but yes, obviously, we cannot go too much into detail."
"It's always a bit tricky after not driving in FP1 for everyone," said teammate Verstappen, "for then FP2 becomes a lot more of a bit of guessing, let's say it like that, where normally in FP1 you just build it up.
"It was maybe not ideal but also not a big issue," he added, "so I think we know what we have to work on and that's what we'll try to do overnight, but again tomorrow probably it's raining so we have again different type of conditions. But it was okay.
"We did a few laps with the softest compound, which I think is alright. It's just around here with all the high-speed corners, the tyres in general, they wear a lot. It was always going to be, I think, quite tricky to manage the tyres."
Asked about the pace of the Ferraris, the Dutchman did not appear to be particularly worried.
"Every weekend they are fast," he replied, "o it's not a surprise. It was not bad, we're still in there, there's still a few things we need to look at, tyres as well, so it's alright."
Check out our Friday gallery from Silverstone here.