The Aston Martin crew are ready to receive Fernando Alonso after Franco Colapinto's Williams stop. The two-time world champion is in and out in a jiffy and rejoins the action in 14th spot.

Charles Leclerc is the fastest man track still, pumping out the laps at a rapid rate to hold off Oscar Piastri threat by over four seconds.

Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Sergio Perez is getting closer to Piastri, he's not quite in the DRS zone but he's going 1.2 seconds behind.

He could be putting Piastri under some pressure, we all know that Perez has great heritage here in Baku from his previous victories.

The pits has a visitor, and it's Franco Colapinto. The Argentine is racing the streets of Baku for the first time and his stop is smooth and tidy, and he's back out in 15th spot on a set of hard tyres.

That stop moves Lando Norris up to P9 and Nico Hulkenberg into the top 10.

The two Haas cars are on the long main straight in Baku, with Ollie Bearman in P11 and Nico Hulkneberg in 12th place. The German has the slipstream on the British teenager, so Bearman does not put up a fight.

Over in the Red Bull camp, Max Verstappen, in fifth place, says he has "zero bite" in the car.

Image source, Getty Images

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Norris does have a whole plethora of brand new soft tyres, which no one else has because he didn't take part in the rest of qualifying.

If we were to get a late safety car or a red flag, that is another little string to Lando Norris and McLaren's bow.

"I think a plastic bag just went in the left hand side airbox"

Mercedes have received a worrying call for George Russell, who tells the pit wall a rogue plastic bag may be an unwanted intruder on his car.

At the front of the pack, Charles Leclerc banks another fastest lap in his Ferrari and he is now 2.8 seconds quicker than the McLaren of Oscar Piastri just behind.

Image source, Reuters

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We haven't had any incidents yet which is unusual for Baku, highly likely that this race will be intervened with by a safety car at some point.

Ollie Bearman suffers a small twitch in the Haas and Lando Norris senses a chance has been presented to overtake the teenager. Job done for the McLaren. Norris is now into the points from his P15 starting position.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I think the hard tyre is clearly working the best, we are seeing Lando Norris making major progress, we are not seeing the likes of Colapinto, who is on the medium tyre pulling away.

So far, so clean for this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. race leader Charles Leclerc is 1.8 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri in second and has the purple fastest stopwatch parked next to his name.

Engineer: "Lando how are the tyres?"

Norris: "Yeah they feel alright at the minute"

If only this was the final lap, as both Williams and the Haas of Ollie Bearman are all still running in the top 10.

McLaren are on the radio early, asking Lando Norris how the tyres are holding up. The Briton is still in P11, chasing the teenager Bearman for the points places.

"This tyre is really bad."

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

From Piastri's point of view following another car, you either have to be a long way back to protect those tyres, or if you want to be really close you want to try and maximise the slip stream and get in front.

I think Piastri is hoping he can break away, get in front and then have the clear traffic in front of him to then protect his tyres for the rest of the race.

Oscar Piastri is staying on the red tail of Charles Leclerc but as the two cars reach the middle sector, the Ferrari of Leclerc is pulling away strongly from the Australian's attack.

Sergio Perez remains in third pace, Carlos Sainz is fourth, Max Verstappen has moved from sixth to fifth and George Russell is chasing the Red Bull just behind.

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

If you stay within that one second margin to get the DRS, it's really easy to overcook your tyres.

Oscar Piastri might be out of his window already.

Lewis Hamilton started his latest grand prix in the pit lane and the seven-time world champion is climbed his way to 15th place. Esteban Ocon, the other pit lane starter, has only reached P19.

A slow-moving Yuki Tsunoda moves off the racing line for a brief moment but the RB driver is still running in this race. It looks like Tusonda was caught up in that tussle with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.

Ben Edwards
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Norris has gone past Tsunoda and is up into 11th place, he's now going after Oliver Bearman.

The recovery driver is in full flow for Lando Norris. The McLaren gets his man and Yuki Tsunoda is picked off for his P11 spot. The RB man finds himself under further pressure as the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg is also stalking his car. Another place lost for Tsunoda.

The gap at the front, meanwhile, is just over a second, with Charles Leclerc keeping Oscar Piastri's McLaren at bay.

Image source, Getty Images