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"Thursdays in Monaco are always tricky because the track is dirty and constantly evolves," SportPesa Racing Formula 1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer said after the opening two practice sessions in the principality.
Sergio Perez was 16th fastest with a time of of 1min14.566 in free practice one and went two seconds faster in the second session with a 1min12.752.
Lance Stroll struggled a bit in the opening session with a time of 1min16.135, but improved dramatically in practice two with a 1min14.558.
Szafnauer said: "The priority was getting the drivers in the groove so that they built their confidence and felt comfortable in the car. Sergio was happier than Lance, but we’re still chasing a better set-up on both cars and that’s where we will focus our energy over the next 24 hours."
He said: "It’s a race where qualifying performance often dictates your race result so that’s where we need to concentrate. We have the luxury of an extra day to crunch all the numbers and find the best solution for Saturday."
Perez said: "The car doesn’t feel too bad – the balance is okay, but we are still on the back foot. With some fine-tuning we can definitely make things better. Understanding the data and making good decisions is a real strength of this team so I’m confident we can be in a better position by Saturday afternoon."
Stroll said: "It’s not been the easiest day. We took things steady this morning and tried to build up our speed gradually, but the car isn’t where we need it to be just yet. We’re missing some speed so we need to work hard tonight and tomorrow to understand where we can make some improvements."