Ocon: As in Monaco, it's important to improve gradually in Baku.

      Last year the Haas F1 team performed well at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Oliver Bearman, who was replacing Kevin Magnussen, picked up a point, and Nico Hülkenberg then just missed out on a top-ten finish. Esteban Ocon hopes he can avoid trouble this weekend on the tricky Baku circuit.

      Esteban Ocon: "Last year the team achieved a great result – it should have scored points with both cars and came close to doing so. Our goal this weekend is to fight hard, but to get to the required level it's important to build up pace gradually.

      As in Monaco, it's very important to improve with every lap, every run, while continuing to work on the car. We'll try to get through tomorrow's practice without issues, and then it will be clearer what to expect.

      One of the most difficult parts of the Baku circuit is the narrow section that runs along the fortress wall, and the toughest part of that section is the first left-hand corner (turn 8 of the lap). That's where you can make up a lot of time if you attack it aggressively. However, under braking you can easily lock the front wheels, and then you'll clip the barriers on the outside of the corner, as happened to Charles Leclerc.

      I hope that won't happen to me! But when you're driving on the edge of what's possible, nothing can be guaranteed."

      As revealed in an interview with Sky Sports, Esteban was not aware that Williams' protest regarding the penalty given to Carlos Sainz at Zandvoort had been upheld. But the French Haas driver has his own view on the rules that should be followed during on-track battles.

      "It's a tricky question," Ocon replied. "Of course, it's important for us to be confident that we are interpreting the rules correctly and know what actions on track the FIA expects of us. From my point of view, the rules clearly state that if at the apex you are ahead of a rival, you can prevent them from passing you on the outside line.

      All this is discussed among the drivers, and we ourselves wanted it to be that way and debated it with the FIA, so we can't complain about that aspect of the rules now. Unfortunately, at Zandvoort there was such an incident between Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz, and the decision the stewards made demonstrates that the wording of that rule is not entirely clear. I agree with that.

      But in the end, we do know the rules, and the decision to issue a penalty was taken. Even if it was later acknowledged to be wrong and was overturned. But that's the letter of the rules, and we have to work with it."