By Sergio Silva
25 Oct 2024, 20:00 PM EDT
The Mexican Pato O’Ward had a good performance in the first free practice of the Mexican Grand Prix this Friday aboard the McLaren of Lando Norris who did not participate in the session in which the Mexican also Sergio “Checo” Pérez He was left with the tenth best time.
The Nascar driver, who was invited by the British McLaren team with which he races in the American motorsport championship, finished just three tenths away from the first 10 positions in the session that was dominated by the British Mercedes driver, George Russell (1 :17,998).
“I feel like I was able to help the team. They have told me that I have been well, that they are happy and ready for a weekend that does not seem like it will be easy. It seems that there will be other quite strong cars”said the Mexican after the session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
Pato O’Ward, who was invited by McLaren to participate in free practice at the Mexican Grand Prix after completing his performance this season in the Nascar IndyCar Series with the Arrow McLaren team, was the second best rookie (of the five ) who were on the track.
The Mexican, who was affected by the incident involving Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman that caused the red flag that reduced the time on the track, downplayed that misfortune and was satisfied with his performance before the Mexican fans who applauded him. after his performance.
“The red flags weren’t frustrating, those are things that happen. I’m glad to be riding and get a little feel for what the car was like. Maybe not in optimal conditions to put in a lap, but I’m happy. From Mexico? “The best country in the world”noted the pilot.
“Checo” Pérez without luck
The Red Bull team driver did not have the expected performance in the first two free practices of the Mexican Grand Prix, achieving tenth and ninth place in this Friday’s sessions, respectively.
The man from Guadalajara still cannot be completely comfortable on the RB20 and his performance this Friday in the first free practices make it clear that he will have a lot of work ahead of the weekend that could look uphill for Red Bull, which had Max Verstappen with a performance as well. discreet
The three-time F1 world champion achieved the fourth best time of the first session and in the second he barely completed four laps of the Mexico City track where qualifying will be held this Saturday where Ferrari and McLaren hope to fight.
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