Friday’s day at the 2022 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix was not as productive as Sergio Pérez expected, as he finished in tenth position in the second practice session, after being affected by weather conditions and a technical breakdown in his car that forced him to miss part of FP2.
“We have been very unlucky with the weather conditions, we have started at the wrong time, especially on the last lap with the soft tyre,” said Checo , speaking of the second practice session, where he was barely able to lap in the last 20 minutes with the softest compound, while his rivals had already squeezed him 10 minutes earlier.
The Mexican driver’s time was also affected by a rear wing failure that forced him to stay in the garage for the last 10 minutes of Free Practice 2, while team-mate Max Verstappen set the best time, beating Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari .
“We didn’t have the pace today, but I think it was partly because of the conditions. We had a little problem with the rear wing so we had to stop for a while, we couldn’t lap and then it was all too wet.
Pérez also explained that the rain forced him to take some precautions to avoid an accident that could end his testing program earlier than expected. Although the Mexican could not set one of the best times at the end of Friday, he assures that he has the confidence to be competitive on Saturday and Sunday in the race.
“As soon as there’s a wet corner, you easily lose your balance and the track becomes very difficult, so it’s impossible to learn anything. We’ll see what we can do.”
“I think we’re good, we think we’re competitive. But we have to make sure we do everything right,” he said to finish the driver from Guadalajara, third in the drivers’ championship, but very close to Charles Leclerc in the fight for second place.
