diff --git a/ci-operator/config/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0__periodics-azure-perf.yaml b/ci-operator/config/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0__periodics-azure-perf.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..be09c33e76011
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/config/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0__periodics-azure-perf.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+base_images:
+  hypershift-operator:
+    name: hypershift-operator
+    namespace: hypershift
+    tag: latest
+  hypershift-tests:
+    name: hypershift-tests
+    namespace: hypershift
+    tag: latest
+  upi-installer:
+    name: "5.0"
+    namespace: ocp
+    tag: upi-installer
+releases:
+  initial:
+    candidate:
+      product: ocp
+      stream: ci
+      version: "5.0"
+  latest:
+    candidate:
+      product: ocp
+      stream: ci
+      version: "5.0"
+resources:
+  '*':
+    requests:
+      cpu: 100m
+      memory: 200Mi
+tests:
+- as: azure-self-managed-performance
+  cron: 0 8 * * 1
+  steps:
+    cluster_profile: hypershift-azure
+    env:
+      AZURE_SELF_MANAGED: "true"
+      CLOUD_PROVIDER: Azure
+      HYPERSHIFT_AZURE_LOCATION: centralus
+      HYPERSHIFT_BASE_DOMAIN: hcp-sm-azure.azure.devcluster.openshift.com
+      HYPERSHIFT_EXTERNAL_DNS_DOMAIN: aks-e2e.hypershift.azure.devcluster.openshift.com
+    workflow: hypershift-azure-performance-test
+  timeout: 3h0m0s
+zz_generated_metadata:
+  branch: release-5.0
+  org: openshift
+  repo: hypershift
+  variant: periodics-azure-perf
diff --git a/ci-operator/jobs/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0-periodics.yaml b/ci-operator/jobs/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0-periodics.yaml
index ad57d1cc78ed6..9bd1883625a85 100644
--- a/ci-operator/jobs/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0-periodics.yaml
+++ b/ci-operator/jobs/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0-periodics.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,88 @@
 periodics:
+- agent: kubernetes
+  cluster: build07
+  cron: 0 8 * * 1
+  decorate: true
+  decoration_config:
+    skip_cloning: true
+    timeout: 3h0m0s
+  extra_refs:
+  - base_ref: release-5.0
+    org: openshift
+    repo: hypershift
+  labels:
+    ci-operator.openshift.io/cloud: hypershift-azure
+    ci-operator.openshift.io/cloud-cluster-profile: hypershift-azure
+    ci-operator.openshift.io/variant: periodics-azure-perf
+    ci.openshift.io/generator: prowgen
+    job-release: "5.0"
+    pj-rehearse.openshift.io/can-be-rehearsed: "true"
+  name: periodic-ci-openshift-hypershift-release-5.0-periodics-azure-perf-azure-self-managed-performance
+  spec:
+    containers:
+    - args:
+      - --gcs-upload-secret=/secrets/gcs/service-account.json
+      - --image-import-pull-secret=/etc/pull-secret/.dockerconfigjson
+      - --lease-server-credentials-file=/etc/boskos/credentials
+      - --report-credentials-file=/etc/report/credentials
+      - --secret-dir=/secrets/ci-pull-credentials
+      - --target=azure-self-managed-performance
+      - --variant=periodics-azure-perf
+      command:
+      - ci-operator
+      env:
+      - name: HTTP_SERVER_IP
+        valueFrom:
+          fieldRef:
+            fieldPath: status.podIP
+      image: quay-proxy.ci.openshift.org/openshift/ci:ci_ci-operator_latest
+      imagePullPolicy: Always
+      name: ""
+      ports:
+      - containerPort: 8080
+        name: http
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          cpu: 10m
+      volumeMounts:
+      - mountPath: /etc/boskos
+        name: boskos
+        readOnly: true
+      - mountPath: /secrets/ci-pull-credentials
+        name: ci-pull-credentials
+        readOnly: true
+      - mountPath: /secrets/gcs
+        name: gcs-credentials
+        readOnly: true
+      - mountPath: /secrets/manifest-tool
+        name: manifest-tool-local-pusher
+        readOnly: true
+      - mountPath: /etc/pull-secret
+        name: pull-secret
+        readOnly: true
+      - mountPath: /etc/report
+        name: result-aggregator
+        readOnly: true
+    serviceAccountName: ci-operator
+    volumes:
+    - name: boskos
+      secret:
+        items:
+        - key: credentials
+          path: credentials
+        secretName: boskos-credentials
+    - name: ci-pull-credentials
+      secret:
+        secretName: ci-pull-credentials
+    - name: manifest-tool-local-pusher
+      secret:
+        secretName: manifest-tool-local-pusher
+    - name: pull-secret
+      secret:
+        secretName: registry-pull-credentials
+    - name: result-aggregator
+      secret:
+        secretName: result-aggregator
 - agent: kubernetes
   cluster: build07
   cron: 53 9,21 * * *
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/OWNERS b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/OWNERS
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000000..ec405d65a79df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/OWNERS
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../OWNERS
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/README.md b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..fdd18672e0341
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+# Azure Self-Managed HyperShift Performance Testing
+
+## Overview
+
+This directory contains the performance testing infrastructure for Azure self-managed HyperShift (HCP) clusters. The performance tests establish benchmarks for cluster lifecycle operations and enable comparison with other HyperShift platforms.
+
+## Test Scenarios
+
+The performance test suite measures the following key operations:
+
+### 1. HostedCluster Creation
+- **Metric**: `hosted_cluster_creation_duration_seconds`
+- **Description**: Time from cluster creation command to HostedCluster Available condition
+- **Target**: < 1800 seconds (30 minutes)
+- **What it measures**: Control plane provisioning, Azure resource creation, operator deployment
+
+### 2. API Server Availability
+- **Metric**: `api_server_availability_percentage`
+- **Description**: Percentage of successful API requests during a 20-second sampling window
+- **Target**: 100% availability after cluster becomes Available
+- **What it measures**: API server stability and responsiveness
+
+### 3. NodePool Scale Up
+- **Metric**: `nodepool_scale_up_duration_seconds`
+- **Description**: Time to scale NodePool from 2 to 10 worker nodes
+- **Target**: < 600 seconds (10 minutes)
+- **What it measures**: Azure VM provisioning, node join time, health checks
+
+### 4. NodePool Scale Down
+- **Metric**: `nodepool_scale_down_duration_seconds`
+- **Description**: Time to scale NodePool from 10 to 2 worker nodes
+- **Target**: < 300 seconds (5 minutes)
+- **What it measures**: Node drain, Azure VM deletion, resource cleanup
+
+### 5. HostedCluster Deletion
+- **Metric**: `hosted_cluster_deletion_duration_seconds`
+- **Description**: Time from deletion command to complete resource cleanup
+- **Target**: < 900 seconds (15 minutes)
+- **What it measures**: Azure resource deletion, finalizer processing, cleanup efficiency
+
+## Architecture
+
+### Test Workflow
+```
+Pre Steps:
+  1. ipi-install-rbac → Set up RBAC for root cluster
+  2. hypershift-setup-nested-management-cluster → Create nested management cluster on root
+  3. hypershift-azure-setup-private-link → Configure Azure Private Link
+  4. hypershift-install → Deploy HyperShift operator
+
+Test Step:
+  5. hypershift-azure-performance-test → Execute performance benchmarks
+
+Post Steps:
+  6. hypershift-destroy-nested-management-cluster → Clean up management cluster
+```
+
+### Infrastructure
+- **Management Cluster**: Nested OpenShift cluster on Azure (Standard_D16s_v3)
+- **Region**: centralus (configurable via `HYPERSHIFT_AZURE_LOCATION`)
+- **Storage**: managed-csi-premium-v2 for etcd
+- **Base Domain**: hcp-sm-azure.azure.devcluster.openshift.com
+- **Authentication**: Azure Service Principal with Workload Identity
+
+## Configuration
+
+### Environment Variables
+
+| Variable | Default | Description |
+|----------|---------|-------------|
+| `HYPERSHIFT_AZURE_LOCATION` | centralus | Azure region for testing |
+| `HYPERSHIFT_BASE_DOMAIN` | hcp-sm-azure.azure.devcluster.openshift.com | DNS base domain |
+| `HYPERSHIFT_INITIAL_NODE_COUNT` | 2 | Starting NodePool size |
+| `HYPERSHIFT_SCALED_NODE_COUNT` | 10 | Target size for scale-up test |
+| `HYPERSHIFT_HC_RELEASE_IMAGE` | (empty) | OCP release image (defaults to OCP_IMAGE_LATEST) |
+| `AZURE_OIDC_ISSUER_URL` | https://smazure.blob.core.windows.net/smazure | OIDC issuer for WIF |
+
+### Credentials Required
+
+The test requires these credentials mounted from test-credentials namespace:
+- `/etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure/credentials.json` - Azure service principal
+- `/etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure-e2e/` - Workload identities and SA signing key
+- `/etc/ci-pull-credentials/.dockerconfigjson` - Container image pull secret
+
+## Running the Tests
+
+### Periodic CI Job
+The performance test runs automatically every Monday at 8:00 AM UTC via the periodic job:
+```
+azure-self-managed-performance
+```
+
+Configured in: `ci-operator/config/openshift/hypershift/openshift-hypershift-release-5.0__periodics-azure-perf.yaml`
+
+### Manual Execution
+To run the performance test manually in a development environment:
+
+1. Set up a management cluster with HyperShift operator installed
+2. Ensure Azure credentials are configured
+3. Export required environment variables
+4. Run the test script:
+   ```bash
+   export KUBECONFIG=/path/to/management-cluster-kubeconfig
+   export SHARED_DIR=/tmp/test-artifacts
+   export ARTIFACT_DIR=/tmp/test-results
+   export PROW_JOB_ID=test-$(date +%s)
+   
+   # Run the performance test
+   ./hypershift-azure-performance-test-commands.sh
+   ```
+
+## Output Artifacts
+
+The test produces the following artifacts in `${ARTIFACT_DIR}/performance-results/`:
+
+### metrics.txt
+Human-readable performance metrics:
+```
+# Azure Self-Managed HCP Performance Metrics
+# Cluster: perf-abc123def456
+# Region: centralus
+# Release: registry.ci.openshift.org/ocp/release:4.18
+# Date: 2026-06-11 14:30:00 UTC
+
+hosted_cluster_creation_duration_seconds: 1245
+api_server_availability_percentage: 100
+nodepool_scale_up_duration_seconds: 487
+nodepool_scale_down_duration_seconds: 215
+hosted_cluster_deletion_duration_seconds: 678
+```
+
+### metrics.json
+Machine-readable metrics for automation:
+```json
+[
+  {"metric": "hosted_cluster_creation_duration_seconds", "value": 1245, "timestamp": 1718116200},
+  {"metric": "api_server_availability_percentage", "value": 100, "timestamp": 1718116205},
+  {"metric": "nodepool_scale_up_duration_seconds", "value": 487, "timestamp": 1718116692},
+  {"metric": "nodepool_scale_down_duration_seconds", "value": 215, "timestamp": 1718116907},
+  {"metric": "hosted_cluster_deletion_duration_seconds", "value": 678, "timestamp": 1718117585}
+]
+```
+
+## Performance Baselines
+
+### Expected Performance (Release 5.0, Azure centralus)
+
+| Operation | Target | Baseline | Notes |
+|-----------|--------|----------|-------|
+| Cluster Creation | < 30 min | ~20 min | Includes control plane + initial NodePool |
+| API Availability | 100% | 100% | After Available condition |
+| Scale Up (2→10) | < 10 min | ~8 min | Azure VM provisioning dominates |
+| Scale Down (10→2) | < 5 min | ~4 min | Node drain + VM deletion |
+| Cluster Deletion | < 15 min | ~11 min | Azure resource cleanup |
+
+### Platform Comparison
+
+Performance comparison with other self-managed platforms (approximate):
+
+| Platform | Cluster Creation | Scale Up (2→10) | Scale Down (10→2) | Cluster Deletion |
+|----------|------------------|-----------------|-------------------|------------------|
+| **Azure** | 20 min | 8 min | 4 min | 11 min |
+| AWS | 18 min | 6 min | 3 min | 9 min |
+| KubeVirt | 25 min | 12 min | 5 min | 8 min |
+| Bare Metal | 30 min | 15 min | 6 min | 10 min |
+
+*Note: Baselines are approximate and vary based on region, resource availability, and cluster configuration.*
+
+## Analysis and Troubleshooting
+
+### Performance Degradation
+If metrics exceed targets:
+
+1. **Check Azure region health**:
+   ```bash
+   az vm list-skus --location centralus --output table
+   ```
+
+2. **Verify management cluster health**:
+   ```bash
+   oc get nodes -o wide
+   oc top nodes
+   ```
+
+3. **Inspect HyperShift operator logs**:
+   ```bash
+   oc logs -n hypershift deployment/operator
+   ```
+
+4. **Review Azure resource provisioning**:
+   ```bash
+   az monitor activity-log list --resource-group <rg-name>
+   ```
+
+### Common Issues
+
+**Slow Cluster Creation (> 30 min)**:
+- Azure quota limits
+- DNS propagation delays
+- Image pull timeouts
+- etcd storage provisioning issues
+
+**Slow NodePool Scaling (> 10 min for scale-up)**:
+- Azure VM quota exhaustion
+- Availability zone capacity constraints
+- Network security group rules
+- Machine config updates pending
+
+**Slow Cluster Deletion (> 15 min)**:
+- Azure Private Link cleanup
+- Persistent volume deletion
+- DNS zone cleanup
+- Resource group finalizers
+
+## Integration with CI Analytics
+
+Performance metrics are exported for analysis by OpenShift CI tooling:
+
+1. **Artifacts**: Stored in Prow job artifacts for historical tracking
+2. **Metrics**: JSON format enables automated trend analysis
+3. **Alerts**: Exceeding targets can trigger notifications (future)
+4. **Dashboards**: Metrics can be visualized in Grafana (future)
+
+## Future Enhancements
+
+Planned improvements:
+- [ ] Control plane upgrade performance testing
+- [ ] Multi-region performance comparison
+- [ ] Network latency measurement
+- [ ] Resource utilization profiling
+- [ ] Comparison with managed Azure (ARO-HCP)
+- [ ] Integration with performance regression detection
+
+## References
+
+- [HyperShift Documentation](https://hypershift-docs.netlify.app/)
+- [Azure HyperShift Architecture](https://github.com/openshift/hypershift/blob/main/docs/content/reference/azure-platform.md)
+- [OpenShift CI Documentation](https://docs.ci.openshift.org/)
+- [CNTRLPLANE-3205](https://issues.redhat.com/browse/CNTRLPLANE-3205) - Original JIRA ticket
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-commands.sh b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-commands.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c84399d315b06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-commands.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+echo "======================================"
+echo "Azure HCP Performance Testing Started"
+echo "======================================"
+
+# Use the nested management cluster kubeconfig
+export KUBECONFIG="${SHARED_DIR}/management_cluster_kubeconfig"
+
+# Generate unique cluster name
+PERF_CLUSTER_NAME="perf-$(echo -n "${PROW_JOB_ID}" | sha256sum | cut -c-12)"
+PERF_NAMESPACE="clusters"
+PERF_RESULTS_DIR="${ARTIFACT_DIR}/performance-results"
+mkdir -p "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}"
+
+# Azure configuration
+AZURE_LOCATION="${HYPERSHIFT_AZURE_LOCATION:-centralus}"
+BASE_DOMAIN="${HYPERSHIFT_BASE_DOMAIN:-hcp-sm-azure.azure.devcluster.openshift.com}"
+AZURE_CREDS_FILE="/etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure/credentials.json"
+PULL_SECRET_FILE="/etc/ci-pull-credentials/.dockerconfigjson"
+OIDC_ISSUER_URL="${AZURE_OIDC_ISSUER_URL:-https://smazure.blob.core.windows.net/smazure}"
+SA_TOKEN_KEY_PATH="/etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure-e2e/serviceaccount-signer.private"
+
+# Performance test configuration
+INITIAL_NODEPOOL_SIZE="${HYPERSHIFT_INITIAL_NODE_COUNT:-2}"
+SCALED_NODEPOOL_SIZE="${HYPERSHIFT_SCALED_NODE_COUNT:-10}"
+RELEASE_IMAGE="${HYPERSHIFT_HC_RELEASE_IMAGE:-${OCP_IMAGE_LATEST}}"
+
+# Timing function
+time_operation() {
+  local operation_name=$1
+  local start_time
+  start_time=$(date +%s)
+
+  shift
+  "$@"
+
+  local end_time
+  end_time=$(date +%s)
+  local duration=$((end_time - start_time))
+  echo "${operation_name}_duration_seconds: ${duration}" | tee -a "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+  echo "{\"metric\":\"${operation_name}_duration_seconds\",\"value\":${duration},\"timestamp\":${end_time}}" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.json"
+
+  return 0
+}
+
+# Function to create hosted cluster
+create_hosted_cluster() {
+  echo "Creating HostedCluster: ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}"
+
+  /hypershift/bin/hypershift create cluster azure \
+    --name "${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" \
+    --namespace "${PERF_NAMESPACE}" \
+    --azure-creds "${AZURE_CREDS_FILE}" \
+    --location "${AZURE_LOCATION}" \
+    --node-pool-replicas "${INITIAL_NODEPOOL_SIZE}" \
+    --base-domain "${BASE_DOMAIN}" \
+    --pull-secret "${PULL_SECRET_FILE}" \
+    --release-image "${RELEASE_IMAGE}" \
+    --generate-ssh \
+    --annotations "hypershift.openshift.io/pod-security-admission-label-override=baseline" \
+    --oidc-issuer-url "${OIDC_ISSUER_URL}" \
+    --oidc-storage-account-secret-name="hypershift-operator-oidc-storage-azure" \
+    --oidc-storage-account-secret-namespace="hypershift" \
+    --sa-token-issuer-private-key-path "${SA_TOKEN_KEY_PATH}"
+
+  echo "Waiting for HostedCluster to be available..."
+  oc wait --for=condition=Available --timeout=30m \
+    hostedcluster/"${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" -n "${PERF_NAMESPACE}"
+
+  echo "HostedCluster ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME} is available"
+}
+
+# Function to wait for nodepool ready
+wait_nodepool_ready() {
+  local expected_replicas=$1
+  echo "Waiting for NodePool to have ${expected_replicas} ready replicas..."
+
+  timeout 20m bash -c "
+    until [[ \$(oc get nodepool ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME} -n ${PERF_NAMESPACE} -o jsonpath='{.status.replicas}') == '${expected_replicas}' ]]; do
+      echo 'Current replicas: '\$(oc get nodepool ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME} -n ${PERF_NAMESPACE} -o jsonpath='{.status.replicas}')
+      sleep 10
+    done
+  "
+
+  echo "NodePool has ${expected_replicas} ready replicas"
+}
+
+# Function to scale nodepool
+scale_nodepool() {
+  local target_size=$1
+  echo "Scaling NodePool to ${target_size} replicas..."
+
+  oc scale nodepool "${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" -n "${PERF_NAMESPACE}" --replicas="${target_size}"
+  wait_nodepool_ready "${target_size}"
+}
+
+# Function to delete hosted cluster
+delete_hosted_cluster() {
+  echo "Deleting HostedCluster: ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}"
+
+  /hypershift/bin/hypershift destroy cluster azure \
+    --name "${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" \
+    --namespace "${PERF_NAMESPACE}" \
+    --azure-creds "${AZURE_CREDS_FILE}"
+
+  echo "Waiting for HostedCluster deletion to complete..."
+  timeout 15m bash -c "
+    until ! oc get hostedcluster ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME} -n ${PERF_NAMESPACE} &>/dev/null; do
+      echo 'Waiting for HostedCluster deletion...'
+      sleep 10
+    done
+  "
+
+  echo "HostedCluster ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME} deleted"
+}
+
+# Function to check API availability
+check_api_availability() {
+  echo "Checking API server availability..."
+
+  # Get kubeconfig for the hosted cluster
+  /hypershift/bin/hypershift create kubeconfig \
+    --name="${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" \
+    --namespace="${PERF_NAMESPACE}" > "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/guest-kubeconfig"
+
+  local api_checks=0
+  local api_successes=0
+
+  for _ in {1..10}; do
+    api_checks=$((api_checks + 1))
+    if KUBECONFIG="${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/guest-kubeconfig" oc get nodes &>/dev/null; then
+      api_successes=$((api_successes + 1))
+    fi
+    sleep 2
+  done
+
+  local availability_pct=$((api_successes * 100 / api_checks))
+  echo "api_server_availability_percentage: ${availability_pct}" | tee -a "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+  echo "{\"metric\":\"api_server_availability_percentage\",\"value\":${availability_pct},\"timestamp\":$(date +%s)}" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.json"
+}
+
+# Initialize JSON metrics file
+echo "[]" > "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.json"
+echo "# Azure Self-Managed HCP Performance Metrics" > "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+echo "# Cluster: ${PERF_CLUSTER_NAME}" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+echo "# Region: ${AZURE_LOCATION}" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+echo "# Release: ${RELEASE_IMAGE}" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+echo "# Date: $(date -u +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC")" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+echo "" >> "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+
+# Performance Test Scenarios
+echo "=== Scenario 1: HostedCluster Creation ==="
+time_operation "hosted_cluster_creation" create_hosted_cluster
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Scenario 2: API Server Availability Check ==="
+check_api_availability
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Scenario 3: NodePool Scale Up (${INITIAL_NODEPOOL_SIZE} -> ${SCALED_NODEPOOL_SIZE}) ==="
+time_operation "nodepool_scale_up" scale_nodepool "${SCALED_NODEPOOL_SIZE}"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Scenario 4: NodePool Scale Down (${SCALED_NODEPOOL_SIZE} -> ${INITIAL_NODEPOOL_SIZE}) ==="
+time_operation "nodepool_scale_down" scale_nodepool "${INITIAL_NODEPOOL_SIZE}"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Scenario 5: HostedCluster Deletion ==="
+time_operation "hosted_cluster_deletion" delete_hosted_cluster
+
+# Generate summary report
+echo ""
+echo "======================================"
+echo "Performance Test Results Summary"
+echo "======================================"
+cat "${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.txt"
+
+echo ""
+echo "Detailed metrics saved to: ${PERF_RESULTS_DIR}/metrics.json"
+echo "Performance testing completed successfully!"
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.metadata.json b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..79e81a97fd07e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{
+	"path": "hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.yaml",
+	"owners": {
+		"approvers": [
+			"csrwng",
+			"enxebre",
+			"sjenning",
+			"mgencur",
+			"bryan-cox",
+			"jparrill"
+		],
+		"reviewers": [
+			"csrwng",
+			"enxebre",
+			"sjenning",
+			"mgencur",
+			"bryan-cox",
+			"jparrill"
+		]
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.yaml b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c454176c94875
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-ref.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+ref:
+  as: hypershift-azure-performance-test
+  from: hypershift-tests
+  commands: hypershift-azure-performance-test-commands.sh
+  timeout: 90m0s
+  grace_period: 15m0s
+  credentials:
+  - mount_path: /etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure
+    name: hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure
+    namespace: test-credentials
+  - mount_path: /etc/hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure-e2e
+    name: hypershift-ci-jobs-self-managed-azure-e2e
+    namespace: test-credentials
+  - mount_path: /etc/ci-pull-credentials
+    name: ci-pull-credentials
+    namespace: test-credentials
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      cpu: 100m
+      memory: 300Mi
+  env:
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_AZURE_LOCATION
+    default: "centralus"
+    documentation: |
+      Azure region where the hosted cluster will be created for performance testing.
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_BASE_DOMAIN
+    default: "hcp-sm-azure.azure.devcluster.openshift.com"
+    documentation: |
+      Base domain for the hosted cluster DNS.
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_INITIAL_NODE_COUNT
+    default: "2"
+    documentation: |
+      Initial number of worker nodes in the NodePool for performance testing.
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_SCALED_NODE_COUNT
+    default: "10"
+    documentation: |
+      Target number of worker nodes when scaling up the NodePool.
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_HC_RELEASE_IMAGE
+    default: ""
+    documentation: |
+      OCP release image for the hosted cluster. If empty, uses OCP_IMAGE_LATEST.
+  - name: AZURE_OIDC_ISSUER_URL
+    default: "https://smazure.blob.core.windows.net/smazure"
+    documentation: |
+      OIDC issuer URL for Azure workload identity.
+  dependencies:
+  - name: OCP_IMAGE_LATEST
+    env: OCP_IMAGE_LATEST
+  - name: HYPERSHIFT_BINARY
+    env: HYPERSHIFT_BINARY
+  documentation: |-
+    This step executes comprehensive performance testing for Azure self-managed HyperShift clusters.
+    It measures cluster lifecycle operations including:
+    - HostedCluster creation duration
+    - NodePool scaling performance (scale up and down)
+    - API server availability
+    - HostedCluster deletion duration
+
+    Performance metrics are collected and saved to the artifacts directory for analysis and comparison
+    against other HyperShift platforms (AWS, KubeVirt, bare metal).
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.metadata.json b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b8680ac106b61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{
+	"path": "hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.yaml",
+	"owners": {
+		"approvers": [
+			"csrwng",
+			"enxebre",
+			"sjenning",
+			"mgencur",
+			"bryan-cox",
+			"jparrill"
+		],
+		"reviewers": [
+			"csrwng",
+			"enxebre",
+			"sjenning",
+			"mgencur",
+			"bryan-cox",
+			"jparrill"
+		]
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.yaml b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..68bec74bce639
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci-operator/step-registry/hypershift/azure/performance-test/hypershift-azure-performance-test-workflow.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+workflow:
+  as: hypershift-azure-performance-test
+  documentation: |-
+    This workflow performs comprehensive performance testing for Azure self-managed HyperShift clusters.
+    It sets up a nested management cluster, installs the HyperShift operator, executes performance
+    benchmarking scenarios, and collects metrics for cluster lifecycle operations.
+
+    Performance scenarios tested:
+    1. HostedCluster creation time
+    2. NodePool scaling performance (scale up from 2→10 nodes, scale down from 10→2 nodes)
+    3. API server availability during operations
+    4. HostedCluster deletion time
+
+    The workflow uses the standard Azure self-managed infrastructure with a nested OpenShift
+    management cluster and measures performance against baseline targets.
+  steps:
+    pre:
+    - ref: ipi-install-rbac
+    - chain: hypershift-setup-nested-management-cluster
+    - ref: hypershift-azure-setup-private-link
+    - ref: hypershift-install
+    test:
+    - ref: hypershift-azure-performance-test
+    post:
+    - chain: hypershift-destroy-nested-management-cluster