Pérez suffers in France: "I'm not very comfortable with the car"

Sergio Pérez finished sixth in the first free practice of the day at the Paul Ricard circuit, finishing more than a second behind the fastest of the day, Charles Leclerc, after having a strong spin during the session.

Later in the second practice, the Mexican driver stood for around 20 minutes in the garage while the team worked on his car, which meant he was only able to complete one qualifying drill on soft tyres. That left him tenth in the times, one and a half seconds behind Carlos Sainz , the author of the best lap of the day.

When asked about the long period he spent in the pits without going out on the track, Perez explained: “Basically we had some delays. Nothing really, it was a little problem with one of the stabilizer bars, but nothing major.”

Expanding on his feelings with the RB18 this Friday, the driver from Guadalajara was clear in indicating that he is not in a good moment, and confirmed that he hopes to find answers soon.

“Obviously, I’m not very comfortable right now, not with the car, not at one lap or at race pace,” said the Mexican. “I think there is a lot of work to do tonight. So we will try to pick the best pieces for qualifying and the race.”

Regarding the difficulty that the fact of having been able to carry out a single qualifying simulation on Friday with the soft tyre, Pérez commented: “It was a very short stint with the soft tyre, but it is what it is, and I hope that tomorrow we will be able to put everything together and be in the battle”.

Pérez came into this weekend’s French Grand Prix needing a good result after being forced to retire two weeks ago in Austria due to contact with George Russell, which meant his second retirement in the last three races.

The Red Bull driver sits third in the championship with 151 points, 19 points behind second-placed Leclerc and 18 points ahead of fourth-placed Sainz.

Gallery: Sergio Pérez’s photos at the 2022 Formula 1 French Grand Prix

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Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Alastair Staley/Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18

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Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

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Photo by: FIA Pool

Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing, and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

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Photo by: FIA Pool

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, Mick Schumacher, Haas F1 Team, Pierre Gasly, Scuderia AlphaTauri, Sergio Pérez, Red Bull Racing y Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG