F1 Spanish GP live commentary and updates - race
Follow updates for race day at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona
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Hello, and welcome to race day at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona!
The Spanish national anthem is now under way, being played by a guitarist orchestra.
It is hotter than the past few days with track temperatures approaching 50C. That could play in the hands on Charles Leclerc, the only frontrunner with two sets of more durable medium tyres available to complement his set of softs.
It's hard not to bump into an England member as the entire squad is on the grid ahead of their friendly against Andorra. FOM is keen to speak to Kyle Walker.
(you can make out a former Brazil and Real Madrid left-back in the background....)
All drivers on the grid will be starting on the soft tyre. Yuki Tsunoda, who starts from the pitlane, is on the mediums meanwhile...
The formation lap in Barcelona is under way. Piastri leads Norris, while Verstappen and Russell share the second row. Behind it is Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly and Hadjar, while Alonso rounds up the top 10.
The Spanish Grand Prix has started! It is a great start from Piastri who keeps his lead, while Verstappen takes second from Norris at the opening chicane.
Lap 2/66
What a great opening lap that was from Piastri, who is already close to a second ahead of Verstappen.
Ferrari was the other big gainer of the opening tour, as Hamilton and Leclerc are up to fourth and fifth respectively with Russell and Antonelli down in sixth and seventh.
Lap 4/66
What may have gone unnoticed is Nico Hulkenberg, who has gained five positions into 10th.
Lap 8/66
We have an early pitter, as Alex Albon comes in for a new front wing, after contact with Nico Hulkenberg at T1.
Meanwhile, there will be some headaches at Ferrari as Leclerc is right behind Hamilton in the battle for fourth.
Lap 11/66
Leclerc has eventually moved past his team-mate for fourth. The battle that's now happening is Norris fighting Verstappen for second.
Verstappen: "No grip, compared to them [McLaren] that is."
Lap 13/66
That was easier than expected. Norris overtook Verstappen heading into Turn 1 and the Red Bull driver hardly put up a fight!
For Norris, up next is leader Piastri 4s down the road.
Lap 14/66
Just a lap after being overtaken, Verstappen has pitted for another set of softs and comes out in eighth.
Lap 18/66
It's now the Ferrari drivers who pit and it is for mediums. Hamilton, Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Bearman, Colapinto and Alonso are all on the yellow rubber.
Lap 20/66
It's been a quick rise from Verstappen, who is already back up to third despite the likes of Russell and Antonelli not pitting yet.
Lap 23/66
Well the undercut has worked wonders for Verstappen. He's back in the lead despite the McLaren boys also having pitted.
But with Verstappen on older rubber, no doubt Piastri will close the 5s gap soon. Norris, though, is 10s behind the Red Bull and on mediums compared to Verstappen's softs.
Lap 26/66
The different strategies at play is interesting. Verstappen is on the soft rubber, the tyre he also started on, while the McLaren cars have already switched to mediums.
Just Verstappen, Gasly, Sainz, Albon and Tsunoda are on softs, with the rest mediums.
Lap 29/66
It just isn't Albon's day at all. He has come into the pits to become the first retiree of the day, after suffering damage to his second front wing following a battle with Lawson at Turns 1/2.
Lap 30/66
In he comes again. Verstappen pits for a second time, this time for medium rubber, and he rejoins in fourth but only just ahead of Hamilton.
Piastri back in the lead.
Lap 33/66
The race has now approached its halfway mark and the dominance Piastri has over Norris today is staggering.
The championship leader is 5s down the road and Norris just hasn't been able to cope with him today.
Lap 36/66
Verstappen is rapid today and quickly moving through the field again, despite having pitted twice.
He's just overtaken Leclerc at T1 and has second-placed Norris in his sights.
Another milestone for the four-time world champion...
Lap 43/66
It feels as though everything is on a knife-edge as we approach the final third of the grand prix. Gaps between cars are remaining stable, but there are different strategies at play.
Lap 47/66
Hamilton dives into the pits, but a slow 4.9s stop as mechanics struggled to fit the front right means he rejoins in seventh, yet Hadjar is right behind him.
Lap 49/66
We're starting to see more stops now as Verstappen dives in for a third time, but not well managed by Red Bull as he came out right behind Tsunoda. Though, Tsunoda let him by immediately.
Now it's time for McLaren to react...
Lap 50/66
It's hotting up. Both McLaren drivers have pitted again, with Piastri now leading second-placed Norris by 3s.
However, Norris has Verstappen within a second behind. All drivers are on the softs in a dash until the end now...
Lap 52/66
The blue flags have come out, but somewhat to the detriment of the leading cars having to negate traffic while battling for position.
Verstappen loses the most and he is now 1.5s behind Norris.
Lap 55/66
Well here's a spanner in the works, as Antonelli goes into the gravel during the final sector and a late safety car has now been called...
Lap 56/66
Drivers are all piling into the pits now, yet a new set of hard tyres have interestingly gone onto Verstappen's Red Bull. Softs for the McLaren duo.
Even Verstappen is confused by that decision, yet race engineer Lambiase said it was the only option...
Lap 57/66
Interesting from Red Bull to not simply go for track position and trust Verstappen to fend off the McLaren cars.
However, his hard tyres are a new set, while used softs are on Piastri and Norris.
Lap 58/66
We're now prepping for the sprint to the end with cars unlapping themselves behind the safety car.
Lap 60/66
The safety car is finally coming to an end. Lewis Hamilton said "they do love wasting laps", yet the back markers had to catch up to the pack after unlapping themselves.
Lap 61/66
Conditions are green! Piastri handles the restart perfectly, yet a poor exit from Verstappen out of the final corner drops him down to fourth behind Leclerc.
He was also under pressure from Russell heading into the opening chicane and the Red Bull driver had to use the escape road after a tag from the Mercedes.
Lap 63/66
Up at the front, Piastri once again has too much for Norris and is already over a second clear of his McLaren team-mate.
Lap 65/66
It's heating up even more now! Red Bull asked Verstappen to let Russell overtake, yet as the Dutchman prepares to let him by, the two collide.
Russell is now fourth regardless.
Lap 66/66
Nico Rosberg is calling for a black flag on Verstappen, who seems to have deliberately collided into Russell. The incident is under investigation.
By: Ed Hardy
