Perez believes "this is the best Friday of the season"

It’s fair to say that Sergio Perez has struggled in the early stages of his Red Bull racing career, but in FP2 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he finally hit some good form. He's been outperformed by teammate Max Verstappen all year, but after impressing in the second practice session, could this be the weekend in which he beats the Dutchman on Sunday? He'll certainly be hoping so.

Speaking to SkySports, Perez revealed that he's made great strides since his P4 finish late time out. "Yeah I think we have made some very good progress. After Monaco we did a very deep analysis and today I finally understand a bit more of this car and how I need to drive it."

Best Friday of the season

Perez finally experienced a session that was relatively smooth sailing. He wasn't held up massively by traffic, and although his FP1 running was shortened due to a test rig, he was still able to find good pace.

"In all regards I think this is the best Friday of the season, the most complete Friday.. in terms of how comfortable I feel in the car."

After beating Verstappen in qualifying for Imola, Perez will be hoping to match that feat in Baku on Saturday, and he feels as though he has it in him. When asked if pole was possible, he replied: "I think we are definitely going to be in the mix so hopefully tomorrow we are able to get a good clean lap, which is very important.

"That would be the target, but tomorrow is where it matters, we have some work to do overnight to try and get a couple of tenths."