The first day of free practice in Australia didn’t prove to be particularly indicative for understanding the values in the field in Australia, thanks to a morning session dedicated to set-up modifications and an afternoon session conditioned by the rain.
The work in the morning was further complicated by problems with the GPS, the system that allows the teams to identify the riders on the track and provide precise references regarding traffic. Precisely because of the problems with this system, the Federation had decided to temporarily suspend the session with the red flag, thus interrupting the team’s work.
In the afternoon, however, those few minutes before the rain arrived created a lot of confusion, with all the drivers on track to test the set-up changes. This caused quite a lot of traffic, so much so that many drivers had to abort their fast laps, including Sergio Perez.
“Yes, FP1 was a bit absurd. Even the second free practice session seemed almost as if some riders still had problems with the GPS,” said the Mexican jokingly, referring to the fact that, with all the riders on track, it was almost impossible to complete a clean lap.
“It was just a mess, I wasn’t able to get a clean lap in the afternoon. We’ve made some changes that seem to work in the first and second sectors, but there’s not much to say. Tomorrow we will have a lot of work to do in the third session, we will approach the race a bit in the dark, it could be interesting”, added the Red Bull driver, underlining how the set-up changes between FP1 and FP2 gave the desired results.
With a second session essentially to be trashed, part of the work will be moved to FP3, the last one before qualifying, which will finally offer a better picture of the values on the field.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Tomorrow we will see where we will be. I felt comfortable in the first and second sector with the changes made between FP1 and FP2, but I was never able to find the rhythm in the last split with the traffic”
One aspect that surprised the Mexican in wet conditions is the lack of grip offered by the track, especially on the paint that delimits the roadway from the outside area. While other tracks were able to compensate for the loss of grip, Melbourne proved to be rather slippery. No further rain should be forecast for the rest of the weekend, but it will be something to take into consideration if it does.
“I was surprised in the wet with regards to the white lines, the paint, it was very slippery. Let’s hope that the wet conditions don’t come back because it can be very dangerous, the grip is really low in those conditions. In dry conditions, on the other hand, it’s not bad,” explained Perez.
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