2021 Mexican GP : Post-Friday practice reaction from Max and Checo

Red Bull and Checo Perez started 2021 Mexican GP on positive note with 1-2 finish in FP2 on Friday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

This is one of Red Bull’s home race this season because of Sergio Pérez and it’s the race that Checo has been waiting for all year. You can feel the buzz in the paddock here in Mexico, it’s already rocking. The Mexico City Grand Prix offers different challenges compared to most races this season. The track is 2.2km above sea level making it a breathless affair for the drivers, teams, fans and cars.

In FP1, Checo was able to complete 20 laps in total with a best time of 1:18.610 that saw him P4 on the timesheet. Max finished his stint on the hard tyres with a best time of 1:19.826. He then swapped for a set of softs and was able to improve his time to 1:18.464, which left him P3, behind the two Mercedes. Max completed a total of 28 laps in the session.

In Afternoon, Free Practice Two session, saw track temperature hit a scorching 44-degrees, but that didn’t bother the Bulls at all. Max was quickest in the session with an unbeatable time of 1:17.301 after completing 28 laps.Checo finished the session comfortably in P4 with the two Mercedes drivers splitting the Bulls. Checo’s best time was 1:17.781 with a lap count of 26.

Max Verstappen

“It’s been a positive start and we have a good feeling as a team heading into the weekend. It was quite a good day for us as a Team, of course we are always trying to improve and make the car better but overall, it’s looking pretty good.

The track was very dirty in FP1 which made it quite difficult for us but FP2 was much better. It’s always difficult to know how we are going to perform in qualifying after Friday practice, and there are quite a few things to look at to improve performance. It’s been a positive start and we have a good feeling as a Team heading into the weekend.”

Sergio Perez

“It was a positive day. I think there is still the potential to improve the car and my target is to be on that front row tomorrow. I think we didn’t lose that much progress today, despite the shunt in FP1.

It was a shame we damaged the car and we gave a little bit of extra work to the boys in the garage but other than that incident it was a positive day. I am feeling more comfortable on the long runs than over one lap, so I think there is still the potential to improve the car on the short runs.

I have one more session to work on them and my target is to be on that front row tomorrow. The margins are going to be very close in qualifying to the Mercedes but hopefully we can lock out that front row. I don’t think it has been a representative day in terms of predicting qualifying, tomorrow everything will be even closer, and it will be interesting to see how we all line up.

The fans have been incredible already, it is great to look around and have so much support here, everyone is being so enthusiastic and is pushing me to go faster. Every time I stop the car, I can hear the crowd and it’s only Friday!”