Sergio Perez hopes he and Red Bull will be able to get to the bottom of their problems overnight after a troubled first day of practice for the French Grand Prix. Perez ended both sessions at the Circuit Paul Ricard a second adrift of teammate Max Verstappen, following a series of off-track excursions and garage delays. Having damaged his tyres in FP1 with a couple of wild moments as he built up speed, Perez lost track time in FP2 due to a minor anti-roll bar issue. It meant he ended the day without a representative lap time to his name, placing back in 10th – behind a host of midfield cars.
Perez on his Friday problems at Paul Ricard
Following on from Friday's sessions, Perez admits he has a tough task ahead to find a suitable balance in the updated RB18. "I'm not very comfortable at the moment with the car," Perez told media. "I think there's some good work and understanding to be done tonight. [I will] try to pick out the best pieces for tomorrow's quali and race." As for the time he spent stuck in the garage in FP2, he explained: "We were basically having some delays. [There was] nothing really going on. "[We had] a bit of an issue with one of the anti-roll bars, but nothing major."
A lack of running on the Soft tyre
Due to the delays, Perez was unable to gather as much information about the Soft compound tyre as he had hoped for. It will mean more work for the Mexican during Saturday's third and final practice session, in the build-up to qualifying. "Well, there's been very, very short stints on that Soft tyre," Perez continued. "It is what it is and hopefully tomorrow we are able to pull it all together and be in the fight."
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