Max Verstappen finished third in FP1 and sixth in FP2 while Sergio Perez finished eighth in FP2 as the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix weekend began.
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On Friday, the Dutch driver Max Verstappen finished third in FP1 and sixth in FP2 as the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix weekend began, with championship contender Charles Leclerc leading both sessions for Ferrari. Verstappen was realistic in his appraisal of the RB18 after FP2, citing the scorching heat as the team’s main challenge. Red Bull are not out of the race despite a difficult first day in Spain, but Max Verstappen believes they still have a lot of work to do to compete with Ferrari in qualifying.
Max Verstappen was of the opinion that the team looks good but there are still boxes that need to be ticked in terms of the car mechanically. “A bit tricky to find the balance, with the heat as well,” he said. “We clearly still have a bit of work to do over one lap but long runs at least they look quite decent, so I’m happy with that, just to try and find the middle way. “It’s tough on the tires of course around here. Clearly, we are not on top of that yet in terms of balance. At least we know that the weather is going to be consistent, so we can just work from here.”
Mercedes looked strong again having found some pace in FP2. The Silver Arrows finished strongly in P2 and P3 in FP2. But Red Bull and Verstappen showed no signs of concerns over the German team gaining back form ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. Max said “I mean, I’ve got my sheet, so I could see where we are, that’s why I also said we have to work a bit on the one-lap pace.”
Read more: Verstappen is confident Red Bull will go the distance in the development war with Ferrari
Sergio Perez did not participate in FP1 because F2 driver Juri Vips took his place, but he returned for FP2 and finished eighth, behind local hero Fernando Alonso. He also mentioned hot temperatures as a reason for his difficult practice session. “Everything comes really fast you know, getting up to speed, the tyre degrading straight away, so you basically have two laps. Because it’s not a track where the tyre stays new, you basically have one lap to have a read on the balance and then after that you’re just getting up to speed.”
“The long run, I think I was able to get a read in it. I think in high fuel we got a pretty good idea on which direction to take more or less but yeah, I think in the lower fuel, it’s the main compromise. Hopefully tonight I am able to find the time I need to be in contention for tomorrow’s fight.” expressed Perez.
