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Formula 1
Emilia Romagna GP
F1 Emilia Romagna GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola
Max Verstappen will start the race from pole position, having topped both qualifying and winning the sprint race ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Despite finishing second in the sprint race, Leclerc extended his early lead in the F1 drivers’ world championship to 40 points over nearest rival and Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz.
The Emilia Romagna GP gets underway at 2.00pm BST (3.00pm local time).
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Verstappen, after clearing some traffic, logs a 1m20.224s to re-open that lead to Perez - which fell to a very treacherous 11.7s. So close.
Hamilton duly obliges on the main straight and lets Verstappen lap him, keeping tucked up behind him looking to pounce when Gasly also has to let the Red Bull by.
Hamilton has been shown the blue flags, meaning he is about to be lapped by Verstappen.
Verstappen is now 12.5s clear of Perez; he's at the checkout now. But will he face an unexpected item in the bagging area? It's not looking like it at this stage.
A few more laps tick by and it is a bit of a repeat. Gasly gets DRS from Albon, Hamilton gets DRS from Gasly and the train trundles on.
DRS giveth, DRS taketh away. Hamilton gets the DRS chasing Gasly but the AlphaTauri driver gets the same following Albon so it cancels each other out.
Breaking news
The problem is, the field is pretty spaced out at this stage, so the drivers will have to push on to get a DRS boost.
DRS enabled! Now then, let's see how this shakes things up.
Hamilton is all over the rear of Gasly but cannot find a way ahead or the top speed on the straights to pull alongside and clear. It means he's still stuck in 14th place and is set to be the next driver to be lapped by Verstappen.
Stopwatch
It's a 1m20.587s for Verstappen now, he's cruising at the moment as we approach half-distance.
Pit stop
Ricciardo pits again, swapping his mediums for hards on lap 32, and cycles back to 18th place.
It does seem a cautious move not to enable the DRS at this stage of the race, with all cars on dry tyres and a clear dry line around the entire track.
That's allowed Verstappen to set two consecutive times in the 1m20s, meaning he's now nearly 10s up the road from Perez and Leclerc.
Schumacher has been shown the black and white flag for track limits - one more trip over the white lines and he'll face consequences.
Leclerc just hacked a full second out of Perez after the Mexican had a moment at the Variante Alta chicane, but Leclerc just can't find a way through at the start of lap 29 as Perez holds the centre of the circuit.
Verstappen responds to the closing Perez with a 1m21.095s, but both Perez and Leclerc post 1m21.1s times - so the top three could end up being close if this continues.
Tsunoda is the cork in a long midfield bottle, as Stroll looks for a way around the outside into Rivazza but gets hung out to dry and has to stay behind in 10th. There is still no DRS allowed in this race.
Schumacher is having a race to forget, he runs over the grass at the Variante Alta chicane and his dry tyres cannot handle the wet grass and he spins around. The Haas driver is able to get going again but drops to last place behind Zhou.
Stopwatch
Perez now posts a 1m21.877s, shaking off Leclerc for now and closing the gap to Verstappen, which now stands at seven seconds.
Hamilton was the biggest loser in that pitstop shake-up, dropping back to 14th place and losing three places, while Ricciardo was able to leap from 18th to 15th.
Stopwatch
Perez hence picks up the pace on the 23rd lap, opening the gap up to 0.8s seconds at the line to set a 1m22.583s - our fastest lap so far.
Leclerc carries a lot of speed into the Variante Alta chicane, and gets right behind Perez down for the straight! But Leclerc doesn't quite have enough on the exit to mount an assault on the Red Bull.
Penalty
Ocon has been given a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in that pitstop near-miss. Ocon is currently running in 11th place with Albon, Gasly, Hamilton and Ricciardo right behind him.
Stopwatch
Leclerc goes a full second quicker than the Red Bull duo, posting a 1m24.435s! He's right on Perez's tail once more.
Bottas had a slow stop, but still emerges ahead of Magnussen in sixth. The status quo among the top six hence remains.
A pitstop incident involving Ocon and Hamilton is under investigation, it looks like Alpine released their driver right in the path of Hamilton and they came very close to clashing.
Leclerc comes out on track ahead of Perez, but the Red Bull has a lap warmer tyres and clears the Ferrari at the Villeneuve chicane!
Pit stop
Chaos in the pitlane as the midfield comes in together which has totally shaken things up. Hamilton has lost places to Ocon, Gasly and Albon in a slow stop.
Pit stop
Verstappen and Leclerc begin lap 20 by coming into the pits, as does Norris!
Ricciardo is setting purple sector times already on those medium tyres so it is definitely the time to pit.
Pit stop
More slick moves at the front: Perez comes in from second, just as Leclerc has reeled him in! Russell and Bottas also come in to make the switch.
Pit stop
Here's a few more dry tyre gamblers as Vettel, Gasly and Albon all come in for a pitstop a lap after Ricciardo.
Pit stop
Ricciardo is the first to pit for dry tyres, opting for the medium tyres. He has nothing to lose running in 18th place and last. His pace will be the key test for the rest to do the same.
"Just need an update for a possible safety car," Verstappen is asked, who reports he'd take slicks if it came to the crunch.
As the Stroll vs Hamilton battle rages on for 10th, both drivers are gaining on Tsunoda ahead. That's not a sentence you'd have expected before this season.
Quote
"I'm definitely sliding more," Verstappen reports. Lap times at the front are in the 1m32s, with Leclerc within 1.5s of Perez now.
Further back Zhou has got ahead of Schumacher to take 16th place. The Alfa Romeo driver started from the pitlane, remember.
Reports of rain coming at some point, but there's a very clear dry line. Is it worth a slick gamble at this stage? The teams might have to nominate a sacrificial lamb...
Vettel, in eighth, goes across the grass at the exit of the Variante Alta chicane but largely gets away with it due to his gap on Tsunoda behind.
Bottas now takes a great exit out of Variante Alta, and threads his Alfa Romeo past Magnussen at Rivazza. He's up to P6 now, as Magnussen goes in search of a wet line.
By: autosport.com
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