BBC Radio 5 live

We have live commentary so join Jack Nicholls and former Renault driver Jolyon Palmer by pressing the play button at the top of this page to listen along.

And we are under way again in the desert. Ninety minutes of action.

Frank Claydon: Improve F1 by massively reducing the importance of front wing/aero grip to improve the ability to follow another car and hence over take. Increase mechanical grip, decrease aero grip. Allow trick suspension. Increase number of engines to allow drivers to push.

Tracey Pankhurst‏: Do you think having more than one tyre manufacturer in the sport could shake things up a bit? Like the days of Michelin and Bridgestone.

Plain Boring Dan: To improve F1 (without wrecking it's core appeal) I'd say: - funding controls to group the field - sprint race on a Saturday, no pit stops add fun - Sort overtaking by Keeping DRS and careful Aero changes to go towards floor downforce not big wings.

Amit Mandalia‏: What F1 needs to do is take a clear long term look at what they want the sport to be. These high downforce cars all came about because they thought the cars were too easy to drive when Max came on the scene.

It is approaching 6pm in Bahrain and we are under floodlights.

The race on Sunday starts at 6.10pm local time (14:10 BST) so this session will be a true test of what we expect to see in the race itself.

BBC Sport app users may need to click on the link to see the video.

Just the two laps so far today for Max Verstappen. How many can he do in the second session of the day?

Image source, EPA

Just before we get going with session two, catch up with the best moments from the first session, courtesy of the official Formula 1 Twitter account.

BBC Sport app users may need to click on the link to see the video.

Have Red Bull fixed the electrical problem that wrecked Max Verstappen's first practice session? We will find out soon enough.

More reaction to those Liberty Media plans...

Bob Fernley, deputy team principal of independents Force India, said: "It is a constructive programme. Liberty are going around getting the individual teams' opinions and putting it together collectively into what they believe is the best way forward for F1 for the future, whereas in the past it was a very divisive process.

"I can see the direction they are going in and from an independent team's point of view, it's very encouraging.

"At least four teams - Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren - will have to make some adjustments. But they are keeping everybody on board with that process."

We are getting some reaction from the Formula 1 teams on Liberty Media's plans.

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said the move was “a starting point of a dialogue”. He added: “It’s good we are getting started in understanding how the shareholder Liberty sees F1’s future, have some perspective from (governing body) the FIA as well.

“There are many ideas and proposals that have been either overdue or necessary or good. And then there are some that are very challenging and need the detail to really understand.”

Wolff added that he did not believe F1 and the FIA had an agreed position on changes to engines for 2021 - last November both parties put forward a proposal for a cheaper, simpler version of the 1.6-litre turbo hybrid engines used in F1 since 2014.

Wolff said: “There is not clarity yet on what is the exact engine proposal. I think the FIA and Liberty have to come to a joint opinion and then tell us what the concept looks like and then we would enter into a discussion in the strategy group to decide whether that is the correct path or not.”

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier today, Liberty Media outlined their plans for the future of F1. And that is our talking point for today - what would you change in F1? Here are some more of your suggestions.

Chris Rowe: Reduce downforce the cars generate and guide teams in other areas of tech develop. Cars need to be able to follow each other to overtake.

David Wardrope: Dropping re-fuelling during races on health/safety grounds in a sport where driving at 150mph+ speeds with 19 other cars is a bit silly. Re-introducing would mix up car speed and pit stops. Also, how about a reverse cricket style power play where cars are slowed some laps.

Phil Evans: Before anything like reverse grids is considered we need to enable these cars to follow closely and so overtake. So get rid of fancy front wings and make them use the ground effect instead.

The racing action in Bahrain this weekend is not just restricted to Formula 1 as it is also the opening weekend of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

The championship, which aims to find the F1 stars of tomorrow and was won last year by Charles Leclerc, now of Sauber, is held over 12 Grand Prix meetings with a feature race (lasting an hour) and a sprint race (lasting 45 minutes) at each location.

And it has been an encouraging day for 18-year-old Brit Lando Norris, who was second fastest in this morning's practice session driving for the Carlin team.

Norris, who won the FIA F3 European Championship title last season and is a member of McLaren's Young Driver Programme, is one of three British drivers among the 20 competitors. George Russell and Jack Aitken, who both race for the French ART Grand Prix team, were fifth and 11th quickest respectively.

India's Arjun Maini was quickest in practice, with qualifying taking place at 18:10 BST, before the feature race on Saturday at 11:10 BST and the sprint race at 12:15 BST on Sunday.

So it was a frustrating time for Max Verstappen in the first session. An electrical failure early on meant the Red Bull man could only have two completed laps and no time set.

Meanwhile, his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo went fastest, in front of Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

This was Verstappen...

Image source, Getty Images

...this was Ricciardo.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello again. We are back for the second practice session.

And we will pause this live page there. Second practice gets under way at 16:00 BST so we will restart this page at 15:30 BST. See you then.

Only 14 laps from Daniel Ricciardo and only his team-mate Max Verstappen did fewer before he was scuppered by an electrical failure.

Nevertheless, the Australian made those 14 laps count as he went fastest.

Image source, F1

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Bahrain

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo beat Mercedes and Ferrari to set the fastest time in first practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Australian was 0.304 seconds ahead of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas, who edged Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari by 0.094secs.

World champion Lewis Hamilton was only fifth quickest, behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, after making a mistake on his flying lap on the fastest tyre. Haas' Romain Grosjean was best of the rest, ahead of Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly.

McLaren, who have introduced some of the aerodynamic upgrades that were initially planned for the first race of the season, had a difficult session, Fernando Alonso only 11th quickest.

Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen suffered an electrical problem on his first lap and missed the rest of the session.

Behind Gasly, the top 10 was completed by Renault's Carlos Sainz, who was separated from his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in 10th by the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

There is still time for you to take on our predictor game, where you can guess the podium for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Get involved with our predictor game here.

1. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
2. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
4. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
7. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
8. Carlos Sainz (Renault)
9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
11. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
12. Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
13. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
14. Lance Stroll (Williams)
15. Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
16. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
17. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
18. Sergio Perez (Force India)
19. Esteban Ocon (Force India)
20. Max Verstappen (Red Bull, no time)

A mixed morning for Red Bull. An electrical problem for Max Verstappen and he is the only one to not set a time. At the other end, Verstappen's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo is the fastest man in the opening practice session.

Image source, Reuters

It has not been the best session for Lewis Hamilton, he runs wide, not for the first time today, at turn four, before Valtteri Bottas locks up his tyres and that may be back to the pits for him.