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Formula 1 Brazilian GP

Brazilian Grand Prix race day

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Lap six, still under safety car as more and more drivers suggest it's time to crack on now.
Radio Comms
"We can easily race," reports Magnussen. The drivers are starting to get restless...
Radio Comms
"I think we can start, it's just spray," says Verstappen.
Information
Safety car will be in this lap.
Radio Comms
"There's a lot of water up the hill," warns Rosberg.
The race will begin as they start lap eight of 71.
Radio Comms
"Prepare to bunch up to the cars in front," Manor tells Wehrlein as we get ready to see the cars unleashed.
Green flag
Hamilton backs the pack up, then accelerates off with a clear lead over Rosberg as the race begins properly.
Verstappen immediately takes a look at Raikkonen, steaming down the inside into the Senna S to take third.
Hamilton is 1.9s ahead of Rosberg after just one sector of racing.
Verstappen is now chasing down Rosberg for second, taking some very inventive lines in the infield.
Pit stop
Magnussen pits immediately for intermediates. Rolling the strategic dice straight away.
Hamilton leads by 2s after one lap of racing. Rosberg manages to stay clear of Verstappen for now. Then it's Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo.
Radio Comms
"Let me know anything that will get me out of this spray," Ricciardo asks.
Alonso up to eighth already on the firs proper racing lap, demoting Perez. Nasr is up to 15th in his Sauber.
Raikkonen is rapidly falling away from the top three, he's 7s off the lead and has Vettel and Ricciardo close behind.
Button decides Magnussen has got the right idea and comes in to take intermediates.
Though Hamilton made an early break, Rosberg has matched him since - the gap is 2.2s.
Vettel is right up behind Raikkonen for fourth now.
Radio Comms
"Cars are stopping for inter tyres," Mercedes tells Rosberg. "No way, too early," he replies.
Big bunch of midfielders come in for early tyre swaps. Alonso, Bottas, Massa, Kvyat, Ericsson, Palmer. Massa delayed by having to 'double stack' with Williams team-mate Bottas.
Crash
Vettel spins out of Juncao!
Yellow flag
Vettel was chasing Raikkonen when he lost it, eventually getting going after a long delay and immediately pitting.
Radio Comms
Before that spin, Vettel had been debating with Ferrari whether it was worth pitting for inters purely to escape the spray.
Vettel dives for the pits after recovering from that spin. Nothing to lose now so might as well swap onto inters.
Information
Order: 1 Hamilton; 2 Rosberg +2.9s; 3 Verstappen +6.9s; 4 Raikkonen +13.4s; 5 Ricciardo +14.9s
Slow tyre change for the Ferrari. Seems odd, but Vettel is not a fan of the full wet Pirellis, and will probably find more grip on the inter.
Hamilton gets his lead just over 3s with a lap a second quicker than Rosberg. We're onto lap 12 of 71.
No sign of the leaders pitting for intermediates yet, Rosberg now matching Hamilton's pace again.
Vettel just lost the rear unexpectedly on the standing water. Not even close to a white line. That's how tricky it is out there. Looks as though he contributed to his slow stop by releasing the clutch a little too soon.
After dropping time to the Mercedes for a couple of laps, Verstappen is now equalling their pace again. He's 6.3s off.
Radio Comms
"We are on the crossover and lots of people are switching to inters," Ferrari tells Raikkonen. But he argues "I almost spun again".

By: Geoff Creighton

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