What makes the Azerbaijan Grand Prix so unique ?
Baku is a unique circuit, different to other street circuits we race on, because there are a lot of places to overtake. Baku has been interesting for me ; I’ve had high points, like the crazy win in 2017, and also some low points like last season. 2017 was a wild race, it was like we were karting and all of us were kids again. There are some things in Baku, which future circuits could replicate. The long, winding straight lends itself to massive slip-streaming and close racing. It’s a low downforce setting on the car, making it a low grip circuit.

What are the main challenges of the Baku Street Circuit ?
Braking is the biggest challenge there. It’s tricky and you have to commit and brake as late as you can, especially at Turns 1 and 3 after the straights. When you aim to brake late, it means you’re constantly on the limit and there is no room for error. You have to find that limit under braking and that is probably the hardest part to get right in Baku because the walls are close. We’ve seen in the past there any small error means you’re in the wall and it’s game over.

How satisfied were you to score your first points for the team ?
It was good to get points on the board with the team in China and get ourselves up and running. We built up nicely over the weekend, starting with a solid day’s practice, followed by improvements every time I stepped in the car all the way up to qualifying. The race was a challenge, managing a tough one-stop, but we made that work and there’s a lot of positives to draw from that. We know we have a lot to do if we’re to keep up the improvements, but we’ll keep digging away.