Sergio Perez Chassis 02
FP1 1:19.124 P11 29 laps
FP2 1:18.167 P10 24 laps
Sergio: “Friday was a day of learning and we’ve come away with good information. This morning we were a bit surprised to see how the tyres were performing and they will have a big influence on the race result. If you understand them, you will find a big advantage. Qualifying well is important here, but I think even more important is to have strong race pace and that is where we are focussing our energy tonight.”
Esteban Ocon Chassis 03
FP1 Did not take part
FP2 1:18.485 P11 24 laps
Esteban: “I did my best to get up to speed quickly, but we didn’t have many laps on the hypersoft tyres. The long runs went to plan and we learned about the tyres, but I think everybody discovered that managing them on Sunday is going to be a big challenge. It’s the same for everybody and it should be entertaining for the fans.”
Nicholas Latifi Chassis 03
FP1 1:19.078 P10 23 laps
FP2 Did not take part
Nicholas: “It was a good session for me. I was happy to be back in the car after missing out last week in Austin [due to the adverse weather]. It was a pretty straightforward session, testing set-ups and helping the team learn about the tyres. The conditions were quite tricky today and I experienced the lowest grip and the most sliding I’ve ever had in a Formula One car. The altitude reduces the downforce and you really feel it, but it was quite fun. Each time I drive the car I want to make a step forward in performance and I think today was one of my better FP1 performances.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal and CEO
“As always here in Mexico, we had very low grip at the start of the day, with a dirty track and the drivers getting used to the reduced downforce the car generates at this altitude. Nicholas did an excellent job this morning, helping us complete our test programme. We ran some test items on the car and he gave us good feedback. The tyres are proving to be a challenge with a lot of graining, but we expect that to improve as the weekend progresses. There is still plenty of work to do with the car, but overall it was not a bad first day of action.”
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