The second half of the season got underway officially today with Friday practice running at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps – one of the oldest tracks on the calendar and the drivers’ favorite.
Red Bull needs very good start for the second half of the season to fend off Mercedes title challenge. The team started well by setting fastest time in the second practice session but they ended badly for Max Verstappen and Red Bull when the Dutchman crashed his car causing so much damage.
Max finished the morning session in P2 after a total of 14 laps with a time of 1:45.363, just 0.164s behind lead Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who was P1. Checo who signed contract extension earlier in the day finished the session in P6 after completing 17 laps with a best time of 1:46.127.
In the afternoon’s session – with a constant threat of rain that never arrived – Free Practice Two saw Max finish P1 with a time of 1:44.472 after running for 12 laps. The Dutchman span in the final stages of FP2 and ended his session in the tyre wall, which subsequently brought out the red flag and put an end to Friday’s running. Checo, fresh from re-signing with the Team for 2022, set a best time of 1:45.404, which saw him in P10 after 13 laps.
Max Verstappen
“I think we definitely had a positive start today but unfortunately I just lost the rear at the end of the second session, there was a bit too much oversteer to correct and I hit the wall. As a Team we were quite happy with how everything was going and we did some fine tuning between FP1 and FP2.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, there are of course things to take into consideration including the weather but it’s difficult to say what the track is going to be like in the wet. I think Saturday and Sunday will be similar weather to today so it will definitely be interesting. It’s also great that Checo will be with the Team next year, we have a good relationship so I’m happy to continue working together to try and score a lot of points for the Team for the rest of this season and of course next year.”
Sergio Perez :
“The car is feeling good and I think we have strong potential for this weekend. It’s going to be interesting what happens with the weather tomorrow as that obviously affects how you configure the car but I’m looking forward to it. I think we will be in the fight and able to have a good qualifying, the pace was strong out there today and it will be interesting to see who has what when they put it all together in Q3.
We collected plenty of information over the two practice sessions, we’ll sit down this evening to analyse it so we have the best package tomorrow. It’s also great to have my contract for next year with Red Bull finalised so that I can focus my energy on this season. I really enjoy being a part of this Team so I’m really happy to continue for 2022 but my focus right now is on this weekend and delivering the best possible result.”
