Sergio Perez declared his Red Bull car was “miles off” what was expected during practice at the British Grand Prix.
The Mexican finished eight-tenths off the pace in P8 in the second session at Silverstone as issues with the new-look engine cover on his RB18 delayed running.
But it was the lack of performance that most concerned Checo, who acknowledged his start to the weekend was far from ideal.
“It wasn’t a great session today, from our preparation that we have in the simulator the car is miles off,” Perez said.
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“We assume that there’s something going on but when we need to understand and it was very, very short, long run there at the end, so not a great start.
“We are a bit on the back foot, so we just have to understand what’s going on.”
While unable to say if the apparent issue was aero-related, Perez suggested it was an uphill task to get back on terms with those at the front.
“It’s going to be pretty, pretty difficult but we’ve done it before,” he said optimistically.
A rare sighting of @SChecoPerez from FP1 ? #BritishGP ?? pic.twitter.com/AbmeZq5ufc
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 1, 2022
“I think as long as we’re able to get things in the right place, you need the confidence around these fast corners, so as long as I’m able to get back my confidence, I think it should be alright.
“Ferrari looked strong but nothing too special so I hope we’re able to match them tomorrow come qualifying.”
Teammate Max Verstappen was more competitive in fourth, just two-tenths off the pace set by Carlos Sainz.
But the reigning champion also rued the loss of track time due to poor weather and niggly bodywork issues.
“It’s always a bit tricky, of course, after not driving in FP1, then FP2 becomes a bit of guesswork, whereas normally in FP1 you just build it up,” Verstappen explained.
“It was maybe not ideal but also not a big issue. I think we know what we have to work on and that’s what we’ll try to do overnight.
“But again, tomorrow probably it’s raining so you have again different kinds of conditions, but it was okay.
“Sometimes [missing FP1] works for you, sometimes it’s maybe not amazing. This time probably it was not amazing, but it was also not really bad you know.
“We’re still in there and still a few things to look at you know, with tyres as well.
“Around here with all the high-speed corners the tyres, in general, wear a lot, so it was always going to be quite tricky to manage the tyres.”