A sense of irritation in Sergio Perez was evident after coming shy of beating the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Azerbaijan GP.

The two Force Indias had signalled they would again be a factor for the top three teams to consider after practice in Baku and, as Daniel Ricciardo fell by the wayside after hitting the wall in Q3, it was the two 'pink panthers' that again capitalised.

The Mexican, who finished third at the inaugural race at this venue a year ago, was a quarter of a second off the Dutchman in sixth, beating team-mate Esteban Ocon by less than a tenth of a second as the Frenchman claimed seventh.

"It was a good run," admitted Perez afterwards. 

"There was a lot of pressure on my last lap because I was a hundred meters from the finish line when Charlie (Whiting) decide to put the red flag down, but in the end, I think we got maximum we could today.

"We're really close to the Red Bulls, but not quite there," he added. "I really wanted to be closer to them.

"We've seen it many times, you have two categories in F1 and at the moment we are in the second category but hopefully, tomorrow is a long race, a lot can happen around here so we will see."

As for Ocon, he was pleased with what is his best result in qualifying in his F1 career to date, even if there was a tinge of disappointment of not beating the sister Force India.

"It’s the best qualifying position in my career and I am very happy with how the session went," the 20-year-old said.

"I made a tiny mistake on my fastest lap and that probably cost me a position, but as a team, we have been improving every step of the way.

"Today was all about pushing to the limit: I brushed the wall three times, something I didn’t do yesterday, but I wanted to give everything today.

"We are in a strong position for tomorrow’s race and we know anything can happen here. It’s a tight track and very tricky to get right."

Considering what will be key to a good finish, the former European F3 champion, claimed: "A strong first lap will be crucial, but the most important thing will be to finish the race. If you get to the end here, you can score big points.

"Our pace is good and I am confident we can get a good result."