Just days after admitting that Jolyon Palmer has to start delivering, Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul leapt to the Briton's defence in terms of the pressure he is under, insisting that the youngster has not been given an ultimatum.

On a day the GP2 champion's self-belief took another hard knock after hitting the barriers in the second practice session, Abiteboul was keen not to see the Briton put under further pressure.

"Today we saw a lot of drivers going a bit outside of the track, a lot," the Frenchman told the FIA press conference. "Jo has been one of those at a turn that unfortunately doesn't forgive… unlike other turns."

Asked whether such an incident will further impact the Briton's future with the team, he replied: "It's a bit unfair to link today and the future.

"If you want to link that to the bigger picture for Jo, our situation is very clear," he continued, "he has a contract with us; we are completely committed to helping him get through the period, which is a tough period, that's obvious.

"He has no ultimatum," he added, "but having said that he has to deliver, like every single member of the team.

"I think what will help him is that frankly we take him out of the spotlight under which he is constantly," the Frenchman continued, "all the media attention is not necessarily helping. We are trying our best to protect him but at the same time to do the best as a team to explain to him what we are expecting and we had that type of conversation with him yesterday - go through the metrics and try to define the targets short to medium terms so that he can improve."

Check out our Friday gallery from Baku, here.