Key events
Lap 50/66: Piastri pits and is out once more with a four-second lead. This is full on racing mode for the final 16 laps. No more stops for the frontrunners.
Verstappen says the “car ride is completely broken”.
Lap 49/66: Norris is out quickly and is still just ahead of Verstappen in third. They are both on the soft. Piastri will need to stop again but he is 28 seconds ahead.
Lap 48/66: Verstappen is in for his third stop. The soft tyres are on …
McLaren are getting ready for the pit. Norris is heading in …
Lap 47/66: No the pit crew are back in the garage.
Ferrari are sending the staff to sort out Hamilton. It was a slow pit stop. Not a good experience for Hamilton who is now a long way behind Russell.
Lap 46/66: Red Bull are preparing for a pit stop … is it Verstappen?
Lap 45/66: At the front, Piastri is just over four seconds ahead of Norris.
Lap 44/66: Alonso pits and returns in 17th, Sainz is 16th. Not a great Spanish grand prix for the home favourites. The two swap places a Alonso overtakes.
Lap 43/66: Rosberg on comms points out how utterly unbearable it is to drive in these hot conditions. I am very much an air con man.
Lap 42/66: Russell pits and gets a new set of soft tyres, and exits in seventh.
Top eight
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Oscar Piastri – McLaren
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Lando Norris – McLaren
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Max Verstappen – Red Bull
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Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
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Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
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Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
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George Russell – Mercedes
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Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls
Lap 41/66: Leclerc comes out on some lovely new tyres. He is in sixth but will fancy his chances of making headway.
Lap 40/66: Will this be a McLaren one-two? Red Bull are keeping Verstappen informed that the front two are having to push themselves.
Lap 39/66: Russell is cutting into Hamilton’s advantage over him as he looks to chase down his compatriot to take fifth.
Lap 38/66: Norris was eight-tenths quicker than Piastri on the most recent lap. The Brit is picking up some speed.
Lap 37/66: Norris is certainly listening to the garage has he has closed the gap on Piastri to just over three seconds.
Lap 36/66: Verstappen glides past Leclerc to move into third. He is looking quite lively at the moment and is around five seconds behind Norris in second.
Lap 35/66: Norris is told to go faster as McLaren are worried by Leclerc and Verstappen, but mainly the Dutchman.
Lap 34/66: Clive Osbourne emails: “Hello Will, I like your comments so far but I would appreciate a word or two about the Spanish drivers in this race, for the English/Spanish chappies such as myself.”
Alonso is 12th and Sainz is 13th. Not much to say about them thus far …
Lap 33/66: Verstappen has a little moan about the clutch to keep his team interested.
Lap 32/66: Lawson could be in line for a penalty here after that latest incident.
Lap 31/66: Piastri has opened up a five second gap on Norris.
Hamilton say he has no grip and the back is all over the place. This will be a tough final 30-odd laps.
Lawson and Bearman make contact. Lawson seems to think it’s dodgems today.
Lap 30/66: Verstappen pits! He comes back out in fourth, just about. Hamilton is just behind him.
Lap 29/66: Albon calls it off and retires because his car is rather damaged.
Lap 28/66: Albon has a 10-second time penalty and comes back out.
Verstappen says “it is so hard to drive”. He is not keeping this lead long.
Lap 27/66: Verstappen is around 4.6 seconds ahead. Supposedly he will aim for a three-stop race, if he could keep it down to two, maybe he would have a chance.
Lap 26/66: The stewards will have a look at an incident between Albon and Lawson.
Lap 25/66: Tsunoda enjoys his second pit already.
Lawson goes past Albon but there is a collision, causing debris to fly.
Lap 24/66: Almost everyone is on the medium now, except Verstappen.
Lap 23/66: PIastri is in and out of the pit … and he comes back out just behind Verstappen. That will not worry McLaren because the Red Bull tyres are old.
Current top six:
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Max Verstappen – Red Bull
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Oscar Piastri – McLaren
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Lando Norris – McLaren
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Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
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Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
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George Russell – Mercedes
Lap 22/66: Norris is back out in third, around nine seconds behind Verstappen but with lovely fresher tyres. Verstappen, it should be said, is 17.5 seconds behind Piastri.
Lap 21/66: Russell comes in after a slowing down in his speeds. He is back out in seventh and ready to get moving once more.
Norris is coming in …
Lap 20/66: Piastri’s lead at the front is growing. He is looking to get to lap 25 before putting. Can the Australian keep this smooth ride going until then?
Lap 19/66: Both Ferraris are on the mediums now. It’s a tactic feast of fun this race.
Lap 18/66: Verstappen is up to fourth, aided by the pit stops of Hamilton and now Leclerc. He then overtakes Antonelli.
