Formula One: Australian Grand Prix – live
Key events
Lap 33/57: After starting in the pit lane, Bearman has closed the gap to Ocon in the ‘battle’ for last place but it doesn’t look like either Haas will need to worry about fighting for any higher position.
Lap 32/57: Piastri briefly runs off the track and while he’s easily able to course correct and get back going, that costs him a couple of seconds on Norris – the gap now up to 2.5 seconds.
Lap 31/57: Zak Brown pops up on the broadcast again and the word is that Piastri no longer needs to hold off – “It’s time to go racing”
Lap 30/57: McLaren is on the radio telling Piastri to keep calm and hold off from Norris as the duo work their way through the stragglers at the back of the race. How well will they be able to reign him in as the prospect of a home GP wins looms?
Hamilton continues to push to find a way past Albon for seventh.
Lap 29/57: Piastri is now drawing closer to Norris up front, taking advantage of the DRS as the gap between the Australian and the Brit shrinks down to less than a second.
Lap 28/57: Antonelli now has his sights set on Alonso in tenth-place, pushing hard – almost losing himself on a couple of occasions as he pushes hard – and looking for the overtake.
Lap 27/57: Broadcast of the opinion that Verstappen is going to need to pit soon as he loses further and further ground to the McLaren’s, closer now to fourth-placed Russell than the leading papaya duo.
Lap 26/57: Verstappen is now 14 seconds off the leading Norris – the McLaren’s are one-two and then it’s daylight – figurative daylight, it’s still quite grey and wet – behind them. Those papaya cars are absolute lightning, nothing has been able to go with them this weekend.
Lap 25/57: Leclerc gets on the radio asking if there’s a leakage, because his seat is full of water. “Must be the water,” pit lane responds. “Let’s add that to the words of wisdom.” says the driver.
Lap 24/57: As Albon and Hamilton battle for seventh, Tsunodo is taking advantage to stretch his buffer on them in sixth.
Hamilton tries to force his way up but Albon shuts the door on it.
Lap 23/57: Antonelli has now moved past Stroll and is up into 11th place.
Norris leads from Piastri and Verstappen. Russell in fourth, Leclerc follows, as does Albon, Hamilton, Gasly, and Alonso.
Lap 22/57: With Verstappen back in third, Leclerc is now the biggest riser in the race, up to fifth from his start of seventh. Alonso and Stroll have also gained two spaces down in 10th and 11th. Antonelli is down in 12th but that’s a four place improvement and he’s lapping at the same pace as fourth-placed Russell.
Lap 21/57: McLaren CEO Zak Brown is on the broadcast and mentions that he’s had four different weather forecasts given to him in the last 20 minutes. Welcome to Melbourne, buddy.
Lap 20/57: Norris holds his lead from Piastri, with the former’s garage getting on the blower saying that the plan is to stay out on the track as long as more rain holds off.
Both Hamilton and Albon have escaped the wrath of the stewards.
Lap 19/57: Verstappen is on the radio saying that if there’s more rain coming he’ll need to change his tyres – his garage telling him they’ll lose places with a stop and that conditions are clearing.
Lap 18/57: Verstappen is on the radio saying his tyres are dead. As opposed to pining for the fjords. A big decision coming up for the Red Bull garage as the McLarens get out in front.
Albon and Hamilton have been noted for potential safety car infractions.
Lap 17/57: Verstappen goes too deep as he underbreaks, finds the kerb as he locks up, and that allows Piastri to take advantage of the rare mistake and move into second! McLaren are now one-two, Norris leads Piastri, with Verstappen following in third.
Lap 16/57: Drizzle has begun to fall at Albert Park. Norris leads from Verstappen and Piastri.
Antonelli spins out and is able to recover but that sees his work to overtake Hulkenberg undone.
Lap 15/57: Norris continues to hold his lead over Verstappen but the champion is benefitting from the DRS being turned on to stay with him. Piastri is the fastest man on the track, keeping the pressure on Verstappen.
After starting in 16th, Antonelli has darted past Hulkenberg and is up into 12th.
Lap 14/57: Norris retains the lead in the Australian grand prix, with Verstappen second and Piastri third. Russell is more than six seconds back of the Australian in fourth, followed by Leclerc and Tsunoda. Albon is seventh, Hamilton sits at eight, Gasly is ninth and Alonso rounds out the top ten.
Some warnings of light drizzle being inbound delivered to drivers.
Lap 13/57: Hamilton is on the radio, saying that his Ferrari is snappy and that he’s having trouble with driveability. The Brit is sitting in eighth place at the end of the lap, while his teammate Leclerc is fifth, dropping further back of fourth-placed Russell.
Lap 12/57: Piastri is right up the back of Verstappen, with the activation of the DRS set to give the local lad a further boost in his effort to grab second.
Antonelli is all over the back of Hulkenberg further back in the race for 12th.
Lap 11/57: A dry line is now clearly discernible on the racing line, with drivers diving in and out to get some water on their tyres to try and cool their intermediates down.
Conditions have also dried enough for DRS to be enabled.
Lap 10/57: Norris has now extended his lead over Verstappen to over a second and looks to be pulling away further. That McLaren is quick.
Alonso and Tsunodo are being investigated for leaving too great a gap between themselves and the car in front of them while the safety car was on the track.
Lap 9/57: Norris retains his lead from Verstappen and Piastri but the Dutchman has closed the gap from second to first slightly.
Tsunoda is also under investigation by stewards for a bit of mischief during the safety car.
Lap 8/57: The first full lap of the Australian Grand Prix under race conditions is completed and after coming under some initial pressure from Verstappen, he’s starting gradually gave himself some breathing room as the lap continued.
Alonso may have done something a bit naughty under safety car conditions, stewards have launched an investigation.
Lap 7/57: The safety car has diverted back into the pit lane and racing has resumed. Norris leads from Verstappen as we prepare for a rolling start, with Piastri, Russell, and Leclerc making up the rest of the top five. Tsunoda follows, as does Albon, Hamilton, Gasly, and Alonso.
Lap 6/57: The safety car has remained out on the track as work continues to clear the debris from Doohan and Sainz’s crashes.
Lap 5/57: All the cars are being redirected through pit lane as work is done to clear Sainz’s car off the track just before the home straight, with Bearman and Lawson using the opportunity to put a new set of intermediates onto the car.
Messages are being passed onto the drivers that there is unlikely to be any rain for the next half an hour or so, meaning the track could start to dry out soon.
Sainz’s car has been cleared, opening the path for the race to be started.
Lap 4/57: Three cars are already out of the race and we haven’t even completed a full lap yet – Hadjar didn’t even get a chance to start the race after spinning out on the formation lap.
Ground crews are still working to get Sainz’s car off the track.
Lap 3/57: Verstappen got good traction off the line and was able to keep that moving as he moved ahead of Piastri. Leclerc, meanwhile, was able to leap up to fifth before the safety car came out.
