2015 Australian Grand Prix Sunday - Australian Grand Prix
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Rosberg pits.
Nasr has been jumped by Raikkonen, unsurprisingly, but the Ferrari is committed to two stops whereas most can do this race on one.
Vettel and Massa are both on brand new mediums, with Vettel's being 3 laps fresher due to his later stop. They've matched each other through the first sector on lap 26.
Nasr comes out behind Ericsson in eighth, but is still ahead of Ricciardo.
Nasr comes into the pits, popping Vettel and Massa back into third and fourth.
Rosberg stays out, and it's unlikely he can make any gains as Hamilton gets away in 3.3s.
Hamilton is on a brand new set of mediums, now.
Hamilton is on a brand new set of mediums, now.
Toro Rosso is still struggling to get Sainz's left rear fitted. Now he finally rejoins.
Hamilton continues to charge away from Rosberg - the gap is up to 4.9s as the leader pits.
Hamilton/Mercedes/AusGP
Sainz makes his first pitstop, takes mediums but there's a left-rear problem and he's losing massive time.
A 3.6s stop for Vettel isn't ideal, but he still exits comfortably ahead of Massa in the battle for third.
Raikkonen shoots past Ericsson into Turn 13 to take eighth.
Perez is within 0.7s of Button for 12th.
Personal best sectors for Massa, who is told "qualifying now - push push".
Raikkonen is now right on Ericsson's tail for eighth as he regains ground after his pitstop.
Ricciardo takes on mediums and is back out ahead of Hulkenberg in 10th.
Vettel was 1.9s faster than Massa on that lap - the gap was around 1.5s before the Williams pitted.
Ferrari calls Vettel in.
Ferrari calls Vettel in.
Edd Straw: "Massa will have lost time behind Ricciardo. That could be very significant in the battle for third place."
Now Ricciardo's pitting anyway, so Massa's free to chase Nasr, who is 7s ahead.
Hamilton extends his lead over Rosberg to 3.6s.
Massa takes a look down the inside of Ricciardo at Turn 13 but can't complete it.
Massa is told: "That's Ricciardo - we need everything we can".
This is working well for Vettel - he's lapping faster in clear air than Massa can manage tucked up behind the Red Bull right now.
Edd Straw: "Race pace of the medium is proving not to be bad at all. This could lead to more one-stop strategies than expected in the build-up to the race. Will be interesting to watch Massa's progress as he has taken mediums so will one stop."
Massa has rejoined between Ricciardo and Sainz in sixth and is quickly catching the Red Bull.
Given that that Hamilton has that sort of pace in the bag when he needs - does that mean he's just been managing the gap up to this point?
Hamilton's fastest lap means he's now 3.3s ahead of Rosberg, extending the gap before the crucial pitstops, giving his team-mate surely no chance to strike.
Hulkenberg pits from 10th, swapping from softs to mediums on lap 21 of 58.
Massa pits - switching to mediums with a 3.0s stop.
As Perez gets back within 2.1s of Button, here's the Force India in the gravel earlier. That was before his spin when he hit the McLaren. Eventful day for Perez.
Perez/ForceIndia/AusGP
Stopwatch
Another fastest lap for Hamilton - beating the new-tyre effort from Raikkonen a few laps ago. 1m31.940s.
Ericsson is getting a bit closer to Hulkenberg for ninth, as Verstappen inches 2.1s clear of them in eighth.
Massa is told that he is "on target" in terms of pit strategy, and a second message comes telling him "let's push now".
Also running:
11 Raikkonen (has pitted)
12 Button
13 Perez
11 Raikkonen (has pitted)
12 Button
13 Perez
Order at one-third distance:
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Massa
4 Vettel
5 Nasr
6 Ricciardo
7 Sainz
8 Verstappen
9 Hulkenberg
10 Ericsson
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Massa
4 Vettel
5 Nasr
6 Ricciardo
7 Sainz
8 Verstappen
9 Hulkenberg
10 Ericsson
Hamilton leads Rosberg by 2.4s out front. Massa is still 1.5s clear of Vettel in the battle to join the Mercedes on the podium.
Massa/Williams/AusGP
Raikkonen rejoined between Ericsson and Button in 11th. He's 13.6s behind the Sauber now but is 2.4s per lap faster.
Stopwatch
Raikkonen sets a new fastest lap as his fresh softs get going.
Massa is reporting "a little bit of degradation on the front-left".
Rather than catching Nasr again, Ricciardo is falling rapidly away from the Sauber. The gap from fifth to sixth is up to 3.4s.
Edd Straw: "With Raikkonen gone, surprising that Ricciardo is now being dropped very rapidly by Nasr. The Brazilian was 1.1s faster last time round."
By: AUTOSPORT staff, Lawrence Barretto, Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw, Jack Benyon
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