Racing Point enjoyed their best Friday Practice sessions of the season so far, having introduced a number of updates in recent races.

The British based team have introduced a raft of new aerodynamic upgrades to their car since the German Grand Prix, and added further parts last time out in Singapore.

Despite having a difficult Singapore Grand Prix – where Sergio Perez retired with a mechanical issue and Lance Stroll ended the race 13th, having picked up a puncture after hitting the wall – the team arrived in Sochi positive that they can extract further performance from the new parts that they have added to their car.

And there are clear signs that Racing Point’s upgrades are working well with Sergio Perez ending up seventh fastest in FP2, while Stroll also made the top ten, setting the ninth fastest time.

“I think it’s been our best Friday of the season in terms of understanding and progress.” commented Perez.

“We did a lot of aero work and I’m very pleased with the day.

“I’m massively looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday.”

While Racing Point admit that they still need to work on their one lap pace, the threat of rain on Saturday’s qualifying session poses an opportunity for them to grab a position higher up the grid.

“Overall it has been a productive day that’s given us plenty of information to analyse this evening.” added Racing Point Team Principal, Otmar Szafnauer.

“It was a good opportunity to continue evaluating the car parts that were introduced in Singapore.

“The focus now is to work on the low-fuel qualifying performance, but the weather forecast tomorrow is far from certain with a high chance of rain, which would present a very different challenge.”