Perez sees areas for improvement: 'Still have some work to do'

"We had a few problems with the brakes during the long run. We still have some work to do across the board," Perez told Sky at the Bahrain International Circuit. With that, the veteran is a little less positive than, for example, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner were after the first day.

Qualifying and the race start are about the same time as the second free practice don Friday, by nightfall. FP2 was thus actually the only practice session under (relatively) equal conditions. Perez also notes that. "This was the only useful session for qualifying. We will get a good idea of where everyone stands tomorrow in the third free practice."

Because it's clear that no one has pressed the gas pedal to the max on the first day of the new season. The expectation is that the lap times will still go down considerably. The pole time of last season will most likely not be achieved, because the F1 cars are a little bit slower due to the new regulations.