Sergio Perez revelled in the opening practice sessions at the Hungarian Grand Prix being the “most comfortable” he’s been with his Red Bull Formula 1 car “in a while”.
Perez has entered this weekend under pressure to deliver amid a wretched recent streak which has seen him accumulate a pitiful 15 points in the previous six rounds.
But while he ended the initial practice hour down in 11th place, Perez had a productive run to fourth in FP2 as he trailed two spots behind team-mate Max Verstappen.
The Mexican’s struggles have tended to be exemplified when Red Bull introduces more upgrades and he is not using the remodelled engine cover on Verstappen’s car.
However, Perez was enthused as the set-up tweaks he made between the two practice sessions delivered tangible progress to set up him well on a decisive weekend.
“It has been a good Friday,” Perez beamed. “I think we made a good step from FP1 to FP2, we made the right changes and took the right direction.
“This is the most comfortable I have felt with the car at this stage of the weekend in a while.
“The steps we have made throughout the day have been the best we can do and that is really positive. We are feeling good and the long run looked promising too.
“I think we can still really dial up the set-up now and at the end of the day it is just about putting everything together at the right time.
“Our time will come, it’s head down for now and look forward to tomorrow. Let’s see what the rest of the weekend holds for us now.”
Meanwhile, Verstappen, who has put added significance on Red Bull’s latest developments working, also adopted a positive stance regarding how his RB20 behaved.
“I think we have had a good day with the upgrades that we have brought to this race,” the Dutchman expressed.
“Of course, there is still a lot to do to make sure we optimise the car, but I think it was a solid start to the weekend.
“It is important to try to look into all the details and work to make sure we have the best set-up possible for the car for qualifying.
“Of course, FP2 was a bit interrupted with the red flag so we didn’t manage to get the full long runs in that we wanted, but it was the same for everyone.
“We’ll look into things and work from there. All in all, it was a good start to the weekend.”
