Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Sergio Perez has the straight line speed - he has matched Verstappen's speed in sectors one and two, but he's quicker in that final sector.

Image source, Getty Images

The Azerbaijan GP has been part of the calendar since 2016 (when that year it was called the European Grand Prix) and there's been plenty of drama since then.

Who can forget in 2018 when the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were in an intense battle with each other - touching wheels plenty of times. Then on lap 41 coming into the first corner Ricciardo went into the back of his team-mate - knocking them both out of the race.

At the end of the season the Australian left the team...

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Charles Leclerc is running around on the medium tyres - he set the seventh fastest time.

He may get a run on the soft tyres. The race runs are now starting and Lando Norris is the first driver to do that.

Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell is someone we do want to see more of - but he is slipping and sliding out there at the moment. Looks like Russell is doing the race pace work - with Hamilton doing the single lap work.

Unlike fellow rookie Franco Colapinto, Oliver Bearman does know the mean streets of Baku and has won twice here in Formula 2. The Haas driver, making his second appearance of the season after his stand-in over at Ferrari for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia, has kept his nose clean so far and is sitting nicely in P9 with a time in the 1:44s.

Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We are still waiting for Lando Norris to do a representative lap - and the same for George Russell.

But for Charles Leclerc, it is not working well for him at this stage.

1. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 1:43.490

2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.460

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.493

4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.539

5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.603

Franco Colapinto is getting the full street circuit experience today. Following his boink with the wall in first practice, the Argentine reaches the castle section in his Williams and brushes his left rear tyre against the barrier. Thankfully, his car looks to be intact.

Sergio Perez is the only driver to win two races here in Azerbaijan and a third here this weekend would be a major boost for the Mexican driver. So far on his soft run, Perez has managed to jump above the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to lead the timesheets by over four-and-half tenths.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has to do a U-Turn at Turn Seven and Charles Leclerc heads down the escape road to continue his pretty miserable day in Baku up to now.

Rebecca Clancy
F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Image source, Getty Images

Oliver Bearman has been impressive all day - looks like a good decision from the team principal at the Haas team.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

George Russell is now out of the pits - he is on the hard tyres.

With the sun going down in Azerbaijan - the local time is 5:32pm - Max Verstappen highlights his struggles with visibility. The Red Bull man is third on the timesheets after his first flying lap on the softs, 0.079 seconds behind frontrunner Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Red Bull have gone one way on set up - they have more down force on the car, it looks after the tyres that way. If they stick with that for the rest of the weekend will be interesting to see.

Carlos Sainz was quickest on the medium tyre and now the Spaniard has repeated that achievement on the soft compound. The Ferrari man has clocked a 1:43.950 and he is ahead of the McLaren of Oscar Piastri by 0.033 seconds.

On that incident with Lando Norris a few moments a go, Pierre Gasly told his Alpine pit wall: "I had a problem with the battery, I'm sorry."

The McLaren of Lando Norris is fastest in the opening sector and now the Briton heads to the intricate middle section, which has caught many a driver out. He's purple again, so he's on for a decent lap time, but as he nears the end of his attempt, the Alpine of Pierre Gasly is suddenly in the way and he has to abort. That was a close.

Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Yuki Tsunoda is the first to do a flying lap on soft tyres - we will see some rapid times coming now. And he goes third fastest.

Franco Colapinto in the Williams is gathering as much time as possible on Baku's city streets, as the Argentine has no experience on the high-speed, twisty circuit.

While Colapinto stays collecting data on the medium tyre, most of the big dogs are heading out on the soft rubber...

1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, medium) - 1:44.323

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull, medium) +0.038

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, hard) +0.671

4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull, medium) +0.729

5. Alex Albon (Williams, medium) +0.801

Rebecca Clancy
F1 journalist on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

George Russell is in the garage and could be out in around half an hour as they are doing an engine change.

Zhou Gunayu reaches Turn Three and goes... straight on to the escape road. D'oh. The Sauber driver reserve out and rejoins the action.

Over at Haas, Nico Hulkenberg says Red Bull's Sergio Perez is "racing already" as the pair meet each on a lap.