Perez: Red Bull needs ‘a couple of tenths’ to be in the mix for US GP F1 pole

The Mexican enjoyed one of his strongest Friday’s of the season as he ended the day fastest in second practice at the Circuit of the Americas ahead of Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton would have topped FP2 had it not been for exceeding track limits, but it was still an encouraging performance by Perez whose lap was only a tenth shy of Hamilton’s deleted effort.

Reflecting on Friday practice in Austin, Perez said: “Yeah it was a good day. Obviously, it’s going to very tight. It’s all about tomorrow, Saturday, trying to put it all together and trying to find those couple of tenths that could put us in the mix for pole tomorrow.

“It was a promising FP2 but there’s a lot to be done to try and improve the car. I also feel that there’s some margin to still improve our long-run pace. All in all it’s a positive Friday but we will see tomorrow where we end up.”

Perez wasn’t entirely happy with his pace in the race simulations, noting his poor tyre degradation.

“It felt OK but I wasn’t very happy with my tyre deg so I think there’s room to improve there and try to find a bit more pace through there,” Perez added.

“They [Mercedes] were certainly very strong today. We will see what they have for tomorrow.”

Red Bull hasn’t won the US Grand Prix since 2013 with Sebastian Vettel.