Disappointing Friday for Perez: 'We struggled with the balance'

While Max Verstappen finished first in both free practice sessions at Suzuka, however Sergio Perez struggled more throughout these sessions. The Mexican finished more than a second behind Verstappen in both practice sessions and showed some more lack of competitiveness. Perez attributes his disappointing practice sessions to balance problems on his side of the garage.

Sergio Perez's Friday did not go smoothly. In the first free practice, the Mexican finished eleventh, the second free practice ninth. Team-mate Max Verstappen, on the other hand, was fast and finished first in both practice sessions by a wide margin. Only on soft tyres did Perez seem to be able to keep up somewhat with the competition. Speaking in a press release, Perez explained, "This morning we went a bit off balance"

However, Perez is not yet worried about the rest of the weekend, he reveals. "We now have a very good understanding of the direction we need to take. Things are certainly looking much better than they did last weekend, which is positive. The tyre degradation seems to be quite high at this circuit, especially with the hot temperatures we are expecting. I look forward to qualifying; I believe we are going to be strong tomorrow and on Sunday" the Red Bull driver said.