Sergio Pérez remains confident that Force India can perform strongly at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite a messy day, which featured a heavy practice crash.
Pérez held fourth position in the opening session but limited his running after running wide at Turn 8 and hitting the barriers, causing substantial damage to the right-hand-side of his VJM10.
Force India repaired his car in time for the second practice session and the Mexican placed seventh overall, while team-mate Esteban Ocon finished in ninth spot.
“This morning was all about trying to find the limits, and I think we did – it was good it happened today rather than tomorrow,” said Pérez, who finished on the podium at the Baku City Circuit in 2016.
“It was a bit of a messy day, not just with what happened in FP1 but also because of all the yellow and red flags breaking the flow of the sessions.
“I still think we are in a good position. Tonight we will need to work out the best set-up: I feel we have a good potential for the weekend, we just have to put it all together when it matters.”
Ocon was encouraged by his first experience at the venue, having finished inside the top 10 during both sessions.
“I’m pretty happy about today,” he commented. “We had good pace in the car and I felt quite comfortable right from the start.
“I feel we couldn’t really show our speed because of all the yellow flags and the traffic I found on my quick laps, but it doesn’t matter. The important days for this weekend are yet to come.
“It was my first time around this circuit, so the priority was to keep out of trouble: this is not an easy track to learn but I enjoy the challenge.”
