Ayo Komatsu: Our goal is to finish in the top ten.

      The Haas F1 press office, talking about preparations for the upcoming Azerbaijan Grand Prix, reminded that the race in Baku first appeared on the calendar in 2016 — the same year the American team made its championship debut. Admittedly, it was the European Grand Prix back then, but that's a detail.

      Both drivers of the current line-up have at some point finished in the top ten on the street circuit in the Azerbaijani capital: Esteban Ocon's best result was sixth place in 2017, while Oliver Bearman scored a points-paying finish by coming tenth in last year's race when he was standing in for Kevin Magnussen.

      Aio Komatsu, team principal: "We are looking forward to returning to the streets of Baku, to this challenging circuit with many slow corners and a very long straight. We'll be running the three softest tyre compounds, so, as always, achieving effective tyre performance will be critically important.

      At Monza, despite not preparing a special version of the car for that race, we missed the top ten by very little, and that was largely due to a number of incidents, so we're determined to make up for it now. With such a tight spread of results in the middle of the pack, we must make every effort to have a chance of finishing in the top ten — that's exactly what we're aiming for."

      Oliver Bearman: "I'm very happy to be returning to a circuit where I have already raced for Haas F1, when last year I stood in for one of the drivers. I finished tenth then, and the memories of that weekend will stay with me for a long time. At the time I was still getting to know the team, and the experience of working with all the staff helped me a lot in preparing for this year.

      I've won at the Baku City Circuit in junior categories; I like the high-speed nature of the track, although in places it is narrow, and to put together a good lap you really have to work for it. But when it all comes together, you get a very pleasant feeling."

      Esteban Ocon: "After a tough race in Monza we are preparing to return to the Baku circuit this weekend. Racing there is very interesting because the circuit has a 'dual' character: on the one hand there are twisty sections with narrow turns, on the other there are very long straights.

      It requires constant full concentration because you're always running alongside walls, especially on the narrowest section in the old city. In previous years we've often witnessed moments when chaos erupted on track, but if you manage to avoid trouble an opportunity may present itself that you need to seize.

      In Baku it's always important to find the right compromise when working on the setup so that the car copes well with the slow corners and the bumps in the circuit and is quick on the two very long straights. Therefore we must strive to work efficiently in Friday practice to give ourselves the best chance to fight for points."