Perez struggling to understand lack of pace on soft tyre

©RedBull

Sergio Perez was at a loss to explain why Pirelli's soft tyre failed to produce any lap time gains on Friday at Portimão, where the Red Bull driver concluded his day well adrift from teammate Max Verstappen.

Perez felt his pace on the medium tyre was good but the switch to the red-walled soft compound that will be used in qualifying was of little benefit and left the Mexican over half a second behind Verstappen who also had a grip with Pirelli's softs.

"Today we had very similar track surface conditions to last year with limited grip on the new tarmac so it’s really hard to get the tyres to work," Perez said after Friday's running.

"It’s not easy so the main focus is to understand what’s going on with the tyres.

"I think the pace on the mediums was good but when we went on to the soft compound we didn’t find any lap time so we’ll need to look into that and hopefully sort it out in time for qualifying."

Verstappen: Tyres mean Portimão 'not really enjoyable to drive'

Perez, who qualified on the front row alongside Lewis Hamilton last time out at Imola, believes the inherent level of performance of Red Bull's RB16B should allow him to challenge for pole once again on Saturday.

"It’s hard to compare with the last round in Imola as it’s a very different track here and everywhere just has less grip overall due to the tarmac, but I think we have pretty good pace in the car so hopefully we will be in the mix to fight for pole tomorrow," he concluded.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.