Red Bull "very deep analysis" finally helps Perez deliver his "best Friday"

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez hailed practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as his "best Friday of the season".

Mexican Perez topped second practice at the Baku City Circuit, outpacing team-mate Max Verstappen by a tenth of a second.

It is just the second time since joining Red Bull over the winter that Perez has finished at the head of the field in a session, with the 31-year-old showing strong pace both on qualifying and race simulation runs.

The first five race weekends have been a mixed bag for Perez, with glimpses of his talent being undermined by uncharacteristic mistakes or technical problems, albeit relieved by a fine drive in the recent Monaco Grand Prix.

On his improvement since making the switch from Racing Point, Perez said: "We have done very good progress.

"After Monaco, we did a very deep analysis and today it was like 'I finally understand a bit more this car and how I need to drive it'.

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

"We are definitely going to be in the mix so hopefully tomorrow we can get a good clean lap which is very important."

Perez's session was not without issue though as he needed to switch helmets after his first run.

"I just had some air coming into the visor, nothing major. It wasn't a set-up change," he joked.

This weekend's race could provide Perez with an opportunity for his best result of the season as Mercedes struggled to just 11th and 16th in FP2.

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