Perez confident in Japan: 'Think the car is working well'

Sergio Perez closed in behind Max Verstappen in second place in the first free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. During VT2, the routine driver did not come into action, but he is still looking optimistically towards the rest of the weekend at Suzuka.

"It was unfortunately not a very busy Friday, so we probably got the most out of what we could. We were expecting a better P2 but unfortunately the rain prevented us from running and that meant we couldn’t get any more learnings.  I think we have a good base from the morning though, we just have to try and dial up a bit of balance and hopefully we can be in a nice position," Perez said after the second free practice.

Perez expects busy FP3

The Mexican somewhat satisfied with his RB20, although - as usual - some changes were made here and there ahead of the race. "I was pleased with the car from the running we had, we have made some changes ahead of this race and it feels good. We had made some alterations for P2 and obviously we didn’t manage to get the read on those but we are in a similar boat to a lot of teams around us," he adds.

"It will be a very busy practice session tomorrow, we are going to be doing some high fuel runs and then go into quali prep, so it should be an interesting morning. We are confident for this weekend; I think the car is working well."