Perez left struggling for balance in Austria

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Friday was not the start to the Austrian Grand Prix that Force India driver Sergio Perez had been looking for.

Perez had to sit out the morning session to allow the team's test and development driver Alfonso Celis to get some time in the car. He then found it hard to dial himself into the unique characteristics of the Red Bull Ring.

"It’s been a difficult day trying to get up to speed this afternoon," he admitted after the end of FP2.

"I’ve struggled with the balance of the car," he said. "Mainly the corner entry stability and with the rear. We’ve been trying to solve those issues.

"We need to understand where we can improve tonight and pick up some speed tomorrow to make sure was can be in the fight for Q3."

As it turned out, it would have made little difference even if Perez had been in the car in the morning. Celis managed to log only 15 laps in total before being sidelined by electrical issues on the VJM10.

"It was a shame to have the electrical problem with the car because it really limited what we could achieve," Celis said.

"The issue ended the session early and we didn’t get to start the performance work. It’s a track that I love so I’m disappointed we couldn’t do more laps."

Hamilton stays in charge in second practice

Force India team principal Bob Fernley explained that the "car encountered issues with the energy store, which forced us to make some significant hardware changes.

"It cut short Alfonso’s opportunity in the car and delayed Sergio’s afternoon programme. It’s put Sergio on the backfoot. We have some work to do tonight to get the car more to his liking.”

By comparison, Perez' team mate Esteban Ocon had a better time.

"A solid day for me with no real issues or problems," the Frenchman reported. "We found some more speed with every run,

"There is still room for improvement and I know there is more to come tomorrow," he added. "From me, from the car; in all areas really.

"It’s going to be a really tight grid tomorrow with small margins. The work we do tonight will be very important."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.