F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
The third round of the 2024 F1 season will get under way with Max Verstappen once again starting on pole position.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc go from second and fourth for Ferrari with both having shown strong long-run pace in practice. Sergio Perez had qualified third but suffered a three-place grid drop for impeding, promoting Lando Norris to his original position.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a dreadful Saturday, qualifying 11th, and Logan Sargeant sits out the race after Williams gave his chassis to Alex Albon following a crash for the latter - the Thai driver viewed as the best opportunity for a points score.
The race will get under way at 4am GMT (3pm local time).
Norris pits from second place at the end of lap 14, and is followed in by Perez. Both ditch their respective mediums for hards. Norris comes out behind team-mate Piastri in fifth, so he's lost positions in this phase of the race.
"I think we overdid it on this tyre, the grip is quite low from the rear," Perez reports on team radio. He's referring to the front wing level set-up on his car as he looks to try to protect his front tyres from graining.
Leclerc makes light work of getting by Gasly and Hulkenberg on his fresh hard tyres and he has Piastri following him through. On lap 12 Leclerc moves back up to fifth and Piastri sixth as the leading pair out of those who have pitted.
That promotes Perez up to third as Red Bull's only hope for this race. Sainz leads from Norris, Perez, Alonso, Hulkenberg and Gasly, but everyone else has pitted.
"Lets open the gap now then, to go long, the car feels very good to me," Sainz reports. He pushes on as Leclerc and Piastri pit at the same time at the end of lap nine.
Hamilton has stopped at the end of lap 7, copying Ricciardo's move to hard rubber. Albon, after a slow start, has also stopped to swap mediums for hards.
Replays of Verstappen entering the pitlane show his right-rear brake exploding and the damage was too extensive to get him back in the race. The debrief on that one will come after the race.
An early pit stop for Ricciardo to ditch the soft tyres and fit the hard compound. With Hamilton struggling for progress, the red-walled soft option appears to not have been the way to go.
Verstappen's last DNF was the 2022 Australian GP - so his hopes of extending that run is over. That's a shocker! Sainz leads from Norris, Leclerc and Piastri.
"I just lost the car, really weird," Verstappen reports. He wasn't on the screen at the time, but he appeared to be much slower on the blast to Turn 9 even with the DRS advantage Sainz had. "**** the car is loose," Verstappen follows up.
Verstappen nails the start and immediately takes the racing line into Turn 1 ahead of Sainz and Norris. All well behaved behind, as Russell gets ahead of Perez to take sixth place.
Despite the likelihood of a fast start, Hamilton has questioned the decision to start on soft tyres via team radio. The compound has looked good only for one or two laps so far this weekend.
Tyres: Alonso, Hulkenberg and Zhou start on the hards, Hamilton and Ricciardo start on the softs and everyone else starts on the mediums. That's a decent mix.
If you joined us for the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races, sadly there is no live Woking score to update you on before the grand prix starts. A solid goalless draw away at Southend United yesterday means the Cards keep edging towards safety. Now, back to the racing.
So, who are you backing today? It is long odds for anyone other than Verstappen winning - to no surprise - as he targets a 10th consecutive race victory for the second time in his F1 career. Behind him, it should be a decent battle for the podium, though.
National anthem time! A classic tune, especially if you are also of a cricket or rugby disposition, and singer Jael Wena absolutely nails it with a solo rendition. 8/10.
What can we expect from today's race? Well, plenty of pitstops, as Pirelli has gone a step softer than its usual compound choice for Australia and that'll be stepped up by the hot track temperatures (currently at 39.5C), so there are plenty of strategy options open.
Beyond that, it has largely been business as usual. Red Bull has looked superior, with Ferrari and McLaren snapping at its rear wing, but Mercedes haven't nailed their W15 car yet and it has left Russell and Hamilton one step behind.
So, there will be 19 starters in the race due to Sargeant being sidelined, but only 18 drivers on the starting gird. That's because Zhou will start from the pitlane after damaging his front wing, which has forced a spec change as the team doesn't have any spares of the exact part, so had to break parc ferme rules. The Chinese driver was due to start last anyway, so it hasn't changed a great deal.
At the sharp end, Ferrari and McLaren topped the practice times but when the true test came, it was Verstappen and Red Bull that took pole position at Albert Park - to no great surprise. Sainz joined Verstappen on the front row and Perez slotted into third - only to get a three-place grid drop for blocking Hulkenberg in qualifying which has pushed him back to sixth.
Going back to Friday, Albon crashed heavily in opening practice and effectively wrote off his Williams for the rest of the weekend. Due to no spare chassis and limited time and parts to build a new car, Williams made the bold call to switch Albon into team-mate's Sargeant's car and force the American out of the rest of the weekend through no fault of his own.
If you've missed any of the live weekend action so far - and if you are in the UK or Europe, you are excused - we'll quickly recap the major points to get you up to speed.
