Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN completed an issue-free practice day at the Baku Street Circuit. Throughout the two sessions, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu worked with the team to improve their C42, decked in a special livery for the weekend, in preparation for tomorrow's qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas: "We progressed pretty well throughout the day, even though the start was a bit tricky, with grip levels and car balance not quite there. The track feels a little bumpier than last year, but nothing to worry about: we didn't have any issues with bouncing, thankfully. We made quite a few setup changes during the day, and by the end the car was getting much better. I am sure there is more to unlock from it, and I didn't get many clear laps either, including the final one in FP2, where I was making big gains but locked up a tyre and lost the lap. As usual, the midfield is very close, and I'm positive we can make a step forward overnight and improve quite a bit. I'm optimistic for qualifying and for the rest of the weekend."

Zhou Guanyu: "I had an enjoyable day out there: I like this track and I feel I got up to speed with the layout reasonably quickly, especially compared to my experiences in Jeddah and Monaco. I enjoyed the push laps and didn't make mistakes: I'm happy about this, although we obviously still have things we need to work out as a team. I'm confident we can make a step forward for tomorrow's qualifying: the battle in the midfield between P10 and P16 is extremely tight, so if we can find a few tenths we could have a big gain in positions on the grid. There are a lot of factors at play, not least the big difference finding a tow can make to one's lap, but we know we can be in this fight. We'll be giving everything we can to make it happen."

Check out our Friday gallery from Baku, here.