2015 Australian Grand Prix Sunday - Australian Grand Prix
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Hamilton's lead is down to 1.6s at the moment.
Sainz is trying plenty of creative moves to get around the yet-to-pit Perez. Ericsson is another 16s up the road after that in ninth.
Perez is still out on his first set of mediums and keeping Sainz behind him for 10th. The gap to Button is now 23s.
Lap 34 order:
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Vettel
4 Massa
5 Raikkonen
6 Nasr
7 Ricciardo
8 Hulkenberg
9 Ericsson
10 Perez
11 Sainz
12 Button
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Vettel
4 Massa
5 Raikkonen
6 Nasr
7 Ricciardo
8 Hulkenberg
9 Ericsson
10 Perez
11 Sainz
12 Button
That's a shame, would've been intriguing to see Verstappen coming back at Hulkenberg in the run to the finish.
Jos Verstappen takes his headphones off and walks away as his son parks on the grass by the pitlane entry. Twelve cars left.
A replay shows a bit of a plume from the back of the Toro Rosso, which now slows. Verstappen is out.
The Mercedes drivers have Perez and Sainz to negotiate their way past on this lap.
"There's smoke in the car!" Verstappen tells Toro Rosso.
Verstappen rejoins behind Hulkenberg in ninth. That's a place lost compared to stint one, but the Toro Rosso does have fresh softs.
Vettel has Massa well and truly covered at the moment in the battle for third. He's pulled out more than four seconds on the Williams since jumping him during the stops.
Vettel/Ferrari/AusGP
Verstappen finally pits after 32 laps.
Stopwatch
Fastest lap for Raikkonen again, now a 1m31.523s. He's within 8.4s of Massa.
Nothing in it again this time between the Mercedes drivers - they are separated by 2.2-2.3s at the moment.
Verstappen still hasn't pitted in this race. He's got those mediums to lap 31 and is sixth, with Nasr catching fast.
Hamilton is informed on the radio that he matched Rosberg on that lap.
Ricciardo is closing back in on Nasr for what is currently seventh. They're 3.5s apart with the Red Bull 0.5s faster.
Hamilton responds to Rosberg's pace with a new personal best, but Rosberg also finds time as they both set 1m31.6s laps.
Stopwatch
Another fastest lap for two-stopper Raikkonen, who does a 1m31.585s on softs, half a second quicker than leader Hamilton.
Perez is also rapidly being caught by Sainz as the Toro Rosso recovers following its slow pitstop.
Edd Straw: "Remember, a McLaren-Honda has never completed a full race distance. Well, not since 1992 anyway."
31.7s for Rosberg, while Hamilton does a 32.0s out front.
Button is lapping 0.9s faster than Perez on his fresh tyres, so if Force India isn't careful it will be back behind that stubborn McLaren.
Rosberg has clearly decided that it's worth trying to make the difference now - the gap is down to 2.5s. The question is can Hamilton respond? Let's see if he's keeping something up his sleeve and starting off gently on these medium tyres that have to go to the end.
Raikkonen is storming clear of the drivers he has to vault. Gaps to Nasr and Ricciardo now 12.7s and 16.7s.
Rosberg takes 0.2s out of Hamilton, bringing the gap down to 3.2s. While that suggests that the fight isn't over - remember that Rosberg got the gap down to 1.2s in the opening stint, before Hamilton pulled the pin and was able to extend a comfortable lead before the pitstops.
Edd Straw: "So, both Rosberg and Hamilton onto mediums. So they are both one-stopping. The fact this race has settled down as a one-stopper for most has eliminated the strategic variation Rosberg was hoping for."
Raikkonen also has to pull clear of Ricciardo, who is 15.6s behind him in eighth and also running to the finish on these tyres.
Though Raikkonen is now fifth, he has one more stop to make. He's only 11.3s clear of Nasr, who is running to the end.
Before that stop, McLaren told Button to "use all of the tyre" (so, push before stopping). His response was "I've been doing that since lap one!".
Ericsson swiftly passes Perez, who is yet to pit, into Turn 1.
Button is still doing everything in his power to resist Perez, and Ericsson has joined the battle. But now Button pits.
Stopwatch
Raikkonen sets a new fastest lap of 1m31.681s.
Button is still keeping Perez behind him as they fight for 11th.
Vettel is told "it's looking good", although he's then informed that Hamilton is 16 seconds down the road.
More importantly, he's pulling away from Massa, and is now 1.9s ahead of the Williams.
More importantly, he's pulling away from Massa, and is now 1.9s ahead of the Williams.
Ericsson pits and takes on a new set of softs after running mediums since his safety-car stop.
Rosberg gets the faster stop - 2.9s - but Hamilton, who overshot his marks at his own stop, retakes the lead with ease.
There shouldn't be any more stops for the leaders, so this is a straight fight for the win with no more strategy to play out.
There shouldn't be any more stops for the leaders, so this is a straight fight for the win with no more strategy to play out.
Raikkonen catches Verstappen and breezes past on the pits straight with DRS to take fifth.
Poor Sainz rejoined firmly last after that pit delay. He's 16s behind Button and Perez, though they have to pit still.
Verstappen, who started on mediums, has yet to pit and is up to fifth, with Raikkonen closing on him.
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Lawrence Barretto, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Jack Benyon
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