2015 Formula 1 Australian GP
2015 Australian Grand Prix Sunday - Australian Grand Prix
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It looks like the leaders could catch Ricciardo and Nasr before the end. Can Rosberg get in DRS range? He's still 1.7s behind, so it looks like he'll need some help in these closing laps.
Ericsson has a big twitch through the final corner as he tries to get a run on Sainz. That didn't help.
"Am I ok with fuel?" Hamilton asks again. He gets an emphatic "You are ok" in response.
With Nasr ordered to take a bit of care of his brakes, the gap to Ricciardo is down to 3.2s.
Hamilton is asking how he's looking on fuel - "I'm four bars down, do I keep going as I am?". The team says: "We'll get a reference and let you know."
Ericsson is now right on Sainz's tail for eighth place.
Rosberg doesn't lose as much time as Hamilton did lapping Button, but the gap stretches up to 1.7s-1.8s.
There's a chance Ricciardo is going to be lapped by a Mercedes or two by the end of this race.
Button's pace goes up to 1m35s but he keeps going. The finish is in sight for McLaren-Honda...
More gains for Rosberg as Hamilton has to deal with Button, so the gap comes down to 1.5s.
Ericsson takes another 1.3s out of Sainz and gets the gap down to 2.9s with seven laps left. Perez won't catch Sainz at this pace, though.
Rosberg takes four tenths back on that lap - the gap drops to 2.1s out front.
Vettel matches Massa. Williams tells Massa "you're doing a great job, we can still reel him in".
Despite the age of his mediums, Sainz manages his best lap of the race - but Ericsson is 0.9s faster still and only 4.2s behind now.
Stopwatch
Another fastest lap for Hamilton, this time it's a 1m30.945s - 0.4s faster than Rosberg to take the gap up to 2.7s.
Sauber tells Nasr "we need a small amount of brake saving" and reassures him that Ricciardo "is struggling with the tyres" behind him.
The gap between Nasr and Ricciardo has now grown to 5.4s. Nasr looks in fantastic shape for a fifth-place finish on his F1 debut.
Vettel's fuel-saving might be over - he's setting personal best sectors on this lap.
Edd Straw: "Says a lot about Red Bull's plight that Nasr in the Sauber has had the beating of Ricciardo. Gap between the two is now 4.6 seconds. Remember, that's the same Sauber team that failed to score points last season and seems to have spent most of the week in court."
Hulkenberg does another personal best. He's 52s behind Ricciardo in sixth so won't be gaining anything, but it keeps him well clear of Sainz.
Button's pace is back up to 1m34s (3s off the pace rather than 7s) but says downshifts are "a big problem".
Stopwatch
Another 31.0s fastest lap for Hamilton, taking a tenth away from Rosberg to keep the gap above two seconds.
Sainz has done 23 laps on his current mediums, whereas Ericsson and Perez are on much never softs - it's an unbalanced fight.
Massa is now just 2.5s behind Vettel, taking another two tenths out of the Ferrari in the chase for third.
Force India tells eighth-placed Perez he has a shot at catching Sainz for eighth but needs to be faster.
Raikkonen has got changed and returned to Ferrari's hospitality area for the fun of waiting for media engagements he won't enjoy,
Hamilton is a tenth faster on that lap, having edged the gap back up to 2.1s.
Ericsson looks certain to catch Sainz for eighth in the remaining 10 laps - on his new tyres the Swede is 2s faster and 8s behind.
Hulkenberg makes use of his fresh tyres to do his best lap yet, pulls another 1.6s clear of Sainz and make seventh look very safe.
Rosberg takes six tenths out of Hamilton with a new fastest lap of 1m31.0s.
After that pitstop, Hulkenberg rejoined 7s ahead of Sainz, who has Ericsson 10.3s back and closing. Sainz has the oldest tyres in the trio.
Slow middle sector for Hamilton on this lap, so Rosberg is back inside two seconds.
Button takes a bit of grass out of Turn 2. Spectacular but he gets away with it.
The Nasr/Ricciardo battle has fizzled out - the gap is back up to 2.8s. Ricciardo was second on the road on merit here last year...
Edd Straw: "If Rosberg feels like rolling the dice, could always have a punt on making another stop and putting softs on. Then if there is a safety car, that could put him in a position to attack. But Mercedes has traditionally avoided splitting strategies in terms of number of stops, so that roll of the dice is probably unlikely."
Button's pace is now very conservative - 1m38s compared to the leaders' 1m31s.
Button/McLaren/AusGP
Personal best for Massa as he continues the chase of Vettel, who has used 0.6kg more fuel than him in the race so far.
Hulkenberg makes another pitstop. He's on course for a straightforward seventh.
The leaders both set 1m31.2s, so the gap stays at 2.3s between Hamilton and Rosberg.
Raikkonen, helmet still on, is back in the paddock as Arrivabene carries out another inquiry in the pitlane.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Lawrence Barretto, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Jack Benyon
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