Red Bull’s new driver Sergio Perez surprised all with a stonking lap to claim top spot on the timesheets in the first free practice session of the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix weekend but in FP2 he was not as fast.
In the morning session on a sparkling day in Monte-Carlo, Perez’s Red Bull blasted around the Principality in 1:12.487s to pop to top spot on the timing screens where he remained until the end of the one-hour session.
But in the afternoon he was only good for 1:12.708s, a quarter of a second shy of his effort earlier but this time a full second down on Charles Leclerc’s benchmark time in practice two.
On the upside, Perez’s best effort on the day was still quicker than teammate Max Verstappen’s afternoon time, which was good for fourth but appears to understand what went wrong.
The Mexican veteran said in the team report: “It’s great to drive in Monaco again after not racing here last year. I’m enjoying it a lot as it’s such a fantastic track. We had a very good FP1 and the car was feeling strong.
“We made a few changes between sessions and I think maybe we took a step backwards but it’s hard to really know as I had traffic on my soft tyre run.
“I think we probably have work to do on our short runs but we have lots of information to look at now ahead of qualifying on Saturday when hopefully we can be in the mix.
“Even though he missed most of FP1, Charles still managed to end the session fastest so the Ferraris are looking strong but let’s see who sits where on Saturday when it counts,” added Perez whose best result in Monaco was a podium at the 2016 race.
He is set to make his 196th Grand Prix start on Sunday.
? “We have lots of information to look at now ahead of qualifying on Saturday when hopefully we can be in the mix.” @SChecoPerez on #MonacoGP practice ??? https://t.co/pjkhY9bii4 pic.twitter.com/eHSxA97tOs
— Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) May 20, 2021