Daimler : 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Friday

More work to do in Baku

• Lewis was fifth fastest in the morning session, with Valtteri in P6
• Valtteri ended the day with the second fastest time in the afternoon session, with Lewis P10
• Both drivers ran the Soft, SuperSoft and Medium compound tyres in FP1
• Both drivers then used the Soft and SuperSoft in FP2

Valtteri Bottas
Practice one was quite tricky: we were struggling with the setup of the car and it wasn't so well balanced. Today, we needed multiple laps in a row to generate the temperatures we want for a good balance. FP1 wasn't a happy session, but we made some changes ahead of FP2 and the car definitely felt more comfortable. We are moving in the right direction and hopefully we'll make another step this evening. We'll work hard and if we can find those gains we'll be right up there fighting for pole position.

Lewis Hamilton
It was a difficult day out there. This circuit is a tough one and we had a few challenges that we tried to work through today. We've clearly still got lots of work to do ahead of qualifying, but Valtteri's time in FP2 looked promising, so there is obviously pace in the car, which is encouraging. Now it's just a case of getting our heads together tonight to work out exactly how to extract that pace across the entire weekend.

James Allison, Technical Director

It was a scrappy day punctuated every few seconds by dozens and dozens of off-track frolics. The associated yellow flags interrupted the rhythm at a circuit where it is quite challenging to get temperature into the tyres, especially the fronts, and that as much as anything dictated your position on the leader board today. However, we have work to do overnight to make the car's handling sweeter, as both drivers were struggling to get temperature into the front tyres and, as a consequence, suffering with front locking. There is going to be a lot more lap time to come from all of the front runners as the track rubbers in and the drivers gain in confidence. It's already close at the front, so I expect that those who work well overnight, and keep a cool head tomorrow, will be rewarded in qualifying and the race.