Peréz takes over from Verstappen and drives 78 laps

Mexican racing driver Sergio Pérez took over the wheel of the new RB18 from Max Verstappen on Thursday. He only completed 78 laps on the second day of testing in preparation for the 2022 World Cup season in Formula 1. That was considerably less than his Dutch teammate. The world champion was very productive at the Barcelona circuit on Wednesday with 147 laps. This immediately provided a wealth of information about the heavily modified racing car.

Peréz didn’t make many kilometers in the morning session. He pulled the car over with gearbox problems before the start of the last half hour. These were solved relatively quickly by the technicians, so that Perez could go back on track in the afternoon. Although in this early phase of the preparation nothing can be read about lap times, they are of course kept in a speed sport. Perez ‘classified’ with 1.21.430 in seventh.

Charles Leclerc was the best in his Ferrari, with 1,19,698 for what that’s worth. He trumped Pierre Gasly in AlphaTauri, and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren). Lewis Hamilton took it easy on Thursday morning (1.22.562) and then let his new colleague George Russell get into the Mercedes. He gave more gas and eventually became fourth in the ranking of the day.