Perez happy with first practice outing

The Mexican Sauber driver, making his grand prix debut this weekend, enjoyed a promising start today, setting the eighth quickest time in second practice.

"I am happy with how my first day went," said Perez. "The second session especially was really good. I had no difficulties at all learning the circuit, as it felt familiar quite quickly.

"Regarding the set-up of the car, we are going in the right direction but have to figure out a few changes for tomorrow. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow, because this is when it counts."

Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi posted the 15th fastest time and was also happy with his session.

"I think overall the car isn't too bad, and we have learned a lot today running the car with the new Pirelli tyres for the first time on this track," he said. "It is important to understand how to handle the tyres, especially with regard to the track temperatures.

"In the first session I did quite long runs with one set of tyres. In the second we hadn't really the time to let the grip of the tyres develop to the best possible because we had quite a packed test programme. We will now see how we can improve the car's balance for tomorrow."