Sergio Perez had his first taste of the Racing Point F1 Team‘s upgraded RP19 but felt afterwards that competitively they are not where they want to be.
The Mexican ended both Friday Free Practice sessions in sixteenth position, behind his new team-mate Lance Stroll. The 29-year old’s best lap was nearly two seconds slower than the fastest time throughout the day.
Perez presented his views on how his “difficult” running went, suggesting that he was unhappy with the balance of the car.
“It’s always a good feeling to be back in the car for the start of the season, but we are not yet where we want to be in terms of competitiveness,” Perez added.
“These first two sessions were quite difficult for me and I am not really happy with the balance of the car and the tyres yet.”
Racing Point have introduced new upgrades for both drivers this weekend. Perez believes even this will not guarantee them the result they can potentially achieve in Melbourne.
“We had many new parts on the car today and we still need to fully understand them, so we tried to come up with the best possible compromise for tomorrow,” Perez said
“It’s hard to know where we stand compared to the other teams after just one day of practice, but we know the midfield pack is very close so anything we can find overnight will be beneficial.”
