F1 Monaco GP live commentary and updates - Race

So Sainz now P9 and 5.5s ahead of teammate Albon, who is lapping just under four seconds slower.

Looks like Williams staging a repeat of last year's strategy, using one car to back up the pack and give the other one room to pit. Albon clearly has a short memory because he's quibbling...

Albon has been told to swap positions with teammate Sainz, i.e. let him past. 

Lawson pits from what is now P8. Albon has also just pitted - both have gone onto softs.

Norris has now been told to "box and retire the car".

Russell now noted for crossing the white line at the pit exit, on top of a 5s penalty for speeding.

Russell has a lunge on Norris at the chicane on lap 43 but can't make it stick.

"Norris is backing me up," harrumphs Russell as he activates Stating The Bleedin' Obvious mode.

Stroll noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He's currently P17.

Norris has been instructed to hold Russell up and create a margin for Piastri to pit. Shades of last year...

Another battle going on further down the field is Lindblad vs Sainz for P11.

Colapinto joins the noted-for-pitlane-speed club.

Russell and the Mercedes pitwall must be fervently hoping Gasly and Norris pit out of the way soon.

GAPWATCH

Now the leading trio have completed their stops, let's check in on the gaps. Antonelli, now on hards, is 13.4s ahead of Hamilton and is on hard tyres nine laps younger. Leclerc is 11.2s off his teammate. 

Piastri – yet to stop – is 17.7s further behind in P4. Then 9.2 s to Gasly and Norris, also yet to stop.

Russell, who has stop, is now with Norris and Gasly with a 9.6s margin to Hadjar.

Antonelli pits at the end of lap 37.

Well, Norris's issues weren't terminal - he's back on the pace and catching Gasly again, the gap now 0.6s.

Russell now 'noted' for speeding in the pitlane.

And as Leclerc emerges on a fresh set of hards, he's 12s off Hamilton.

Leclerc into the pits at the end of lap 35.

Norris now says he's got no power in the battery. Let's not forget he had a stoppage in practice with electrical issues and he's on his third battery pack of the season.

Yes, he's falling off the back of Gasly now. The gap has grown to 1.2s at the last split.

Russell flashes past Hadjar as the Red Bull exits the pits.

Hamilton under investigation for speeding in the pitlane - and straight away a 5s penalty.

Hadjar also pits.

Russell, now on hard-compound Pirellis, slots into the gap between Norris and Lawson, P8.

Russell into the pits at the end of lap 31.

Norris reporting "a lot of misfiring on this lap... or just noise".

Bearman into the pits, then into the garage and out of the car.

Hamilton emerges P3, into that yawning gap between Leclerc and Hadjar.

Hamilton pits at the end of lap 28. Hard tyres go on.

Lap 27, Hadjar goes straight on at the chicane and Russell is straight on the radio to declaim "a lasting advantage" - this is the bar for determining whether a driver needs to hand a position over in these circumstances.

Indeed, the Gasly/Norris battle is getting closer to the Hadjar/Russell group too. Liam Lawson in a little race of his own in P9 behind all this.

That battle is now 39s behind the leader. Piastri is cruising up to the back of it at around seven tenths a lap.

Lap 25 and Russell has a look around the outside at the chicane, but Hadjar manages to keep the door closed - just!

Antonelli now has 14s in hand over Leclerc, which is enough to pit under a safety car and emerge ahead.

Antonelli has strung out the gap to Hamilton to 8.132s on lap 24. Looks like he's stretching the legs of the Mercedes now.

And the F1 TV feed cuts to thesp Cynthia Erivo. *drinks*

(a WKD would probably be the appropriate beverage)

Lap 22, Hadjar locks up into the chicane but just about stays ahead of Russell. Antonelli is now lapping two and a half secondss faster than his teammate because of this.

"Something's going to explode," says Hadjar. His temper, we think.

"We're looking into it," Hadjar is told.

"Look faster!" he rejoinders.

Norris, we should note, is about the same margin away from Gasly.

"The engine braking is a joke. What's happening?" says Isack Hadjar, rapidly becoming the moaniest driver in F1. Russell all over him now – shades of Mansell and Senna in 1992.