Herta enjoying ‘technical’ Baku challenge after positive Free Practice

Colton Herta described his first 45 minutes of driving around the Baku City Circuit as “enjoyable” but now turns his focus to making sure he can have a good result this weekend.

The Hitech driver showed good form in Free Practice, finishing fourth in the timesheets, 0.495s away from pacesetter Kush Maini’s time.

Speaking in the paddock afterwards, Herta was feeling positive about his first few laps in Azerbaijan.

“It's interesting, I think it's quite technical,” said Herta describing the track. “A lot of really big brake zones, which can be difficult on the street circuit with the bumps and whatnot.

“But it's very enjoyable, I liked it. I like all the tracks this year, they've been enjoyable to drive, and they each have their own little niches in what makes them tick.

“This one is no different. It's very enjoyable, it was very dirty, so it'll be interesting to see the evolution going into qualifying.”

On the performance so far, Herta was speaking after debriefing with the team, and said so far things are looking positive.

“I was happy with the lap that I did,” he continued. “Obviously, I always want more, and there's still quite a bit to find if you want to be quickest.

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“So that's kind of what we're working on in between Practice and Qualifying here, to try to set ourselves up as best as possible. There’s a lot of points on offer this weekend, but more so I would just like to get a result.”

Looking ahead to Qualifying later today, conditions are expected to be quite different.

Formula 1 will have their Free Practice before the session, which should improve the grip levels, while temperatures are expected to be warmer. In addition to that, the teams are set to run the Supersoft tyres for the first time.

Herta says all these added factors mean he has a few things to look over before hitting the track.

“I mean, I’m trying to understand really kind of what the difference is,” he said. I want to understand what needs to happen from the driving side of things to get the lap time out of the car.

“I don't think it changes too much as far as the technique from practice. But there's obviously a lot more grip to have.

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“So preparing for that and understanding where the biggest jumps come throughout the lap is important.”

Speaking further about his hopes of getting a good result, Herta added: "Every weekend you get more comfortable, and I think on these race weekends, there's really no time to learn.

“You have to be on the pace immediately because of the amount of track time. You then have a bit of a break and are able to understand a little bit more going into these last few rounds.”