FORMULA 1
Checo Pérez shines in Bahrain GP practice
The Mexican driver was one of the fastest in the two sessions on Friday at Sakhir.
Sergio Pérez left the free practice sessions on Friday of the Bahrain Grand Prix - the opening date of the 2023 Formula 1 season - with positive feelings. ‘Checo’ was the fastest in the first session of the day, while in the second he finished inside the Top 3 showing that Red Bull is the main contender for the championship.
After setting the best time in the pre-season tests, and warning that this year he will seek to be consistent throughout the 23 races to try to become World Champion, ‘Checo’ has started his season on the right foot. In the first practice he was the fastest, with a time of 1.32.758 that he put down on soft tyres, which put him in first place; nobody could push him off from there.
Fernando Alonso continues to impress
Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin’s beautiful AMR23, was the only driver who came close, within four tenths of the Mexican, a sign that the British team will be in contention for the first few positions as expected after pre-season; Verstappen was six tenths behind Pérez.
Sergio Pérez was very solid in the morning session, raising the hopes of the Mexican fans who want to see him constantly fight for top spot on the grid and podiums. It should be remembered that Red Bull assured they had built a car that adapts to the needs of both Pérez and Verstappen, who have different driving styles.
'Checo' remained on top in FP2
For the second session of the day, Fernando Alonso jumped to the top of the leaderboard; ‘Checo’ came third with a time of 1.31.078, just one tenth below the time of the Spaniard.
For the second half came the classic race simulation and there the times of the Mexican driver dipped slightly, and although Checo did not post terrible laps, he had set his sights on Saturday’s qualifying, which will take place at 10:00 AM ET and 07:00 AM PT.