Ahead of today's Sprint qualifying, the air temperature is 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees.

Russell was quickest in practice, ahead of Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Verstappen, Antonelli, Hadjar, Gasly and Lawson.

However, other than the fact that the leading five were all on softs while the rest were on mediums, conditions were completely different, with practice having been held in daylight.

Of course, the conditions for this session, will be similar for qualifying tomorrow and the race on Sunday, which means the teams face quite the conundrum.

Starting from the back on Sunday, as a result of a 40-place grid drop, the Sprint offers Russell a chance of clawing back 8 precious points, and this morning's session will have hopefully given him some confidence.

However, other than the fact that the top five were covered by 0.5s, we saw a number of drivers struggling on the dusty surface, and with the big prize coming on Sunday nobody will want to take any needless risks.

As previously reported, Antonelli is running the upgraded Mercedes while Russell is in the Baku-spec car. That said, the world championship leader has reverted to the old front wing.

Hulkenberg suffered a technical issue earlier - thought to be gearbox related -

Green light, and Perez leads the way, followed by Bottas, Russell, Antonelli and Bortoleto.

Perez posts a 49.342, the Mexican clearly going for two preparation laps.

Moments later Mexican is off an in the barrier at Turn 5, bringing out the yellows. He is able to reverse and continue.

Hamilton posts a 33.748 as Perez is shown running over his own broken front wing.

The session is red-flagged.

Hamilton is currently quickest, ahead of Gasly, Alonso, Colapinto and Stroll. While a number of drivers' times are clearly 'exploratory', the McLaren, Red Bull, Haas and RB drivers have yet to post times.

The clock has frozen with 06:09 remaining.

"Max overtook me under yellow flag," reports Hamilton.

"I think I passed before the yellow," admits the Dutch driver as the incident is noted.

The session resumes and Perez, who has also been noted, for driving his car in an unsafe condition, heads the queue. He is followed by Bottas, Leclerc, Russell and Antonelli.

Verstappen will be investigated.

A number of drivers are leaving it perilously late before heading out.

Russell posts a 34.331 and Leclerc a 34.055.

Hamilton consolidates his top spot with a 33.748.

Norris goes third, Hulkenberg fifth and Antonelli sixth.

As the clock counts down to zero, Lindblad goes tenth, Gasly seventh, Lawson eighth and Stroll thirteenth.

Piastri goes fourth with a 34.277 as Verstappen stops the clock at 3..477 to go top.

Hadjar goes fourth, and Russell second, the Briton 0.96s off Verstappen's pace.

At which point the timing screens go crazy.

"It was a completely different car to practice," claims Albon.

Verstappen is quickest, ahead of Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Hadjar, Norris, Piastri, Antonelli and Gasly.

We lose Lindblad, Stroll, Albon, Perez, Bottas and Sainz.

The FIA admits to another cluster****...

"The start of SQ2 will be delayed due to an issue with timing systems, some lap times had not been registered," says the governing body in a brief statement. "That is now resolved and the current timings are considered correct. We are investigating whether we can proceed with the rest of the session."

Pathetic, seriously pathetic.

The session will resume at 21:11 (local time), says Race Control, moments after revealing that "overtake enabled".

Green light, and Verstappen leads the way, followed by Bearman, Ocon, Hadjar, Russell and Antonelli.

Seemingly, Gasly clipped the wall as he exited his garage and had to be pushed back into his garage before giving him the all-clear.

Verstappen posts a 32.724 as Russell responds with a 33.387 and Antonelli a 33.037.

Lawson goes fourth, ahead of Hulkenberg and Bortoleto.

Gasly goes third (33.336) but is demoted when Hamilton stops the clock at 32.562, only to be leapfrogged by his Ferrari teammate who posts a 32.457.

Norris goes third and Piastri sixth.

"A couple of big snaps at the end," reports Hamilton.

Russell locks-up and consequently aborts his lap. He is currently eighth.

"Traction is so poor," reports Hadjar.

Verstappen improves but remains fourth, while teammate Hadjar goes fifth.