A number of teams and drivers had felt that the original 22psi limit put in place for front and rear tyres ahead of the weekend was too high.

Lewis Hamilton had labelled that high figure ‘ridiculous’ because of the implications it had on overall performance.

"It's strange coming here this weekend, we have a new record in tyre pressures, so they were obviously worried coming here this weekend," said the Mercedes driver.

"They pumped up the rears to 22psi, which is the highest we've ever had for any tyre, which is ridiculous. As long as there are no blow-ups, we'll do what we can with that."

Following detailed evaluation of the data from practice on Friday that suggested the 22psi limit was too conservative, Pirelli engineers in Baku and Milan have agreed that it can be brought down for now.

For final practice and qualifying, the minimum pressures required for the rear tyres will be lowered to 21psi.

If Saturday’s running confirms that the changes have not led to any complications in terms of tyre integrity – which could be an issue because of the high-speed on the long start/finish straight – then the new 21psi limit will remain in place for the race on Sunday.