Checo Pérez very close to Leclerc’s Ferrari but half a second behind Sainz after the first tests
The Mexican Czech Perez He finished third in the first free practice for the Australian Grand Prix and finished ahead of his partner Max Verstappen.
Red Bull came out with the measurement sensors during the first minutes of the session, mounted on the RB18 of Czech Perezwho used the first laps to collect information for the team, which arrived this weekend with updates.
The man from Guadalajara caused the practice to stop for a few moments with barely 20 minutes on the stopwatch, since part of the diffuser of Czech Perez it fell off after passing through one of the track’s wash places, so a marshal had to go pick it up and race control stopped practice.
Other teams that also made modifications and improvements to their cars were Alpinewho has started the season with a mid-tier car, just like Mercedeswhich in two races has been far from shining and endorsing the dominance they have had in the hybrid era.
Max Verstappen got into a fight with Ferrariteam that dominated the first session with Carlos Sainz Y Charles Leclerc. The Spaniard scored a 1:20.325, while Max Verstappen it was by .325 hundredths slower. Meanwhile, Checo was tenth during the first 40 minutes of practice, being just over a second slower than the Scudería.
With 15 minutes to finish the practice aston martin from Sebastian Vettel he stayed on track and this caused the red flags to appear. The four-time world champion asked for a fire extinguisher to put out the smoke that appeared in his racing car.
With five minutes to go, Czech Perez recorded a 1:20.339 and won by two tenths to Max Verstappenwho placed fourth.