Sauber had a mixed performance in the first two practice sessions of the Australian Grand Prix as they work on getting the car setup perfect.
Rookie driver Sergio Perez immediately settled into the car posting the eighth fastest time in second practice, only a second off Jenson Button‘s marker.
Meanwhile Kamui Kobayashi struggled with the balance of the car and finding grip in the tyres and found himself off the pace.
Perez was understandably delighted with his F1 debut, lapping faster than established names such as Nico Rosberg and Rubens Barrichello.
He said; “I am happy with how my first day went. The second session especially was really good and I had no difficulties at all learning the circuit, as it felt familiar quite quickly.”
“Regarding the set-up of the car, we are going in the right direction but have to figure out a few changes for tomorrow.”
“I am very much looking forward to tomorrow, because this is when it counts.”
Despite the car balance problems, Kobayashi believes the team are in a strong position so long as they can make the necessary improvements.
He added; “I think overall the car isn't too bad, and we have learned a lot today running the car with the new Pirelli tyres for the first time on this track.”
“It is important to understand how to handle the tyres, especially with regard to the track temperatures. In the first session I did quite long runs with one set of tyres.”
“In the second we hadn't really the time to let the grip of the tyres develop to the best possible because we had quite a packed test programme. We will now see how we can improve the car's balance for tomorrow.”
