Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez were the last two victors in the capital city and, as occupants of the top two positions in the standings, they are tipped to battle it out for the crown.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes lies fourth after three races so far on 38 points but could leapfrog both Dutchman Verstappen and Mexico's Pérez with a win in both the main event on Sunday and the newly-altered sprint format.

The Brit, who won the event in 2018, made a steady start to the season with fifth-place finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia last month.

He then went up a gear to take second at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Azerbaijan is set to host the first of six sprint races this season, double the amount of the previous two years, although there will be an alteration to the previous format.

The F1 Commission met last Tuesday where it agreed that the sprint would now be made independent of the Grand Prix, starting this weekend.

Formerly, the Friday qualifying session decided the grid for the Saturday sprint which in turn set the starting order for the Grand Prix on Sunday.

This year, tomorrow's qualifying will set the grid for the Grand Prix.

A sprint shootout has been introduced in order to determine the line-up for the sprint, with both taking place on Saturday (April 29).

The sprint shootout will have three sessions of 12, 10 and eight minutes, with the slowest five drivers eliminated in each of the first two.

Teams are required to use new tyres in each session: the medium compound in the initial two before soft in the final top 10 contest.

Organisers hope the changes introduce more jeopardy into the sprint by encouraging drivers to take more risks as the result does not affect their chances in the Grand Prix.

As a result of the changes, the second practice session has been scrapped.

The top eight finishers in the sprint will score points that will go towards both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships, from eight for first place down to one for eighth.

The Baku City Circuit has featured on the Formula One calendar since its introduction in 2016, except for a COVID-19 enforced cancellation in 2020.

It was known as the European Grand Prix in the first year before taking on its current moniker and is one of seven street circuits on this season's calendar.

Drivers will compete over 51 laps of the 6.003-kilometre loop which Formula One states has the longest straight, at 2.2km, of any track although that does include a few kinks.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc holds the lap record for the race after setting a time of 1min 43.009sec in 2019 but only managed a fifth-place finish.

The Monégasque has had a disappointing start to the season with just six points to his name as he had to retire in both Bahrain and Australia.

Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso will be looking for a fourth consecutive podium in Baku. 

The 41-year-old, who holds the record for most starts on 358, has been the star of a much-improved Aston Martin team that sits second in the Constructor's Championship behind Red Bull.

He finished third in all three events so far.

The action is set to begin tomorrow with the practice session at 1:30pm local time before qualifying at 5pm.