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Lap 12/57: Up front, Piastri leads by 1.2sec and seems to be pulling away from his teammate Norris.
“The teams are limited on 25 laps each for each set of tyres,” explains Brundle. “McLaren have to get rid of these medium tyres at lap 25, they have to get everything out of them before that.”
Lap 10/57: So Norris is now second to Piastri following Verstappen’s pitstop during the safety car. The received wisdom is that the safety car has worked out horribly for McLaren.
“It feels to me that McLaren have missed a trick,” says Brundle on commentary.
What do you think? Email me.
Lap 10/57: McLaren have chosen not to pit during the safety car. Verstappen did, and has medium tyres on, that are two laps old right now.
“Expect the McLarens to push hard after the restart” Verstappen is told over the radio.
Hulkenberg’s car is being hauled off the track now. The safety car is about to end.
Lap 9/57: Gasly was right on Hulkenberg’s tail into the corner. Hulkenberg’s rear right corner was clipped by Gasly’s front left wing.
“I can’t believe this,” Hulkenberg says on the radio. *expletive bleeped out* “Unbelievable. I gave [Gasly] him loads of space.”
Hulkenberg crashes into Gasly!
Hulkenberg and Gasly have had a coming together by turn two. Hulkenberg of Sauber is out of the race. Gasly is limping to the pits.
The safety car it out. Verstappen comes into the pits and he’s not the only one …
Lap 7/57: Piastri’s lead is up to 2.6sec.
Lap 5/57: Piastri leads by 2.1sec now. Norris is 4sec down in third. We are going to witness a processional win for Piastri unless something majorly unexpected happens.
Lap 3/57:
The top 10 –
Piastri +2sec
Verstappen
Norris
Antonelli
Sainz
Alonso
Russell
Hadjar
Gasly
Hulkenburt
Lap 2/57: Piastri leads by 1.5sec. He’ll be extremely happy that the ball in his court. No major errors from here and he knows, barring events beyond his control such as mechanicals, that the title race is going down to Abu Dhabi next week.
Lights out!
Piastri leads, a perfect start. Verstappen takes second from Norris, who looks quick off the mark, but ultimately gets a relatively poor start. Verstappen overtaking Norris into turn one could be very significant …
Formation lap done. Cars are ready, while Franco Colapinto heads for the pits to start from there.
David Beckham and Gary Neville are here, too!
Anyway, the cars are out on track. We are seconds away from lights out.
Starting grid
Here’s how they line up:
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Oscar Piastri
-
Lando Norris
-
Max Verstappen
-
George Russell
-
Kimi Antonelli
-
Isack Hadjar
-
Carlos Sainz
-
Fernando Alonso
-
Pierre Gasly
-
Charles Leclerc
-
Nico Hulkenberg
-
Liam Lawson
-
Oliver Bearman
-
Alexander Albon
-
Yuki Tsunoda
-
Esteban Ocon
-
Lewis Hamilton
-
Lance Stroll
-
Gabriel Bortoleto
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Franco Colapinto
It’s a 57-lap race. The race has been won from pole twice out of the three that have been run since 2021.
Gordon Ramsay, the uber-celebrity chef, reckons it’s in the bag for Norris tonight, and he can enjoy his title next weekend.
“The drivers need to focus on what they control, which is turn one,” says pundit Jamie Chadwick.
Will it be another P1 for Piastri?
“I sure hope so, that’s the plan,” he says.
How are things between him and teammate Norris?
“I mean, the same as always … we are fighting for a win, and a championship, we’ll race each other like we always have done.”
How is Norris feeling?
“Feeling all good,” he says cheerfully, striding past Brundle.
“This could be ugly,” emails Bill. “Norris isn’t the greatest starter in the world, and he and Piastri could take each other out on the first corner. It wouldn’t surprise me. Plus, Verstappen will have his elbows out so far, they’ll be like wings. His aggressiveness gets to Norris at the best of times. But if Lando can get away cleanly, then the race and probably the championship are his. That certainly seems to be what the team wants. So maybe a strategically sloppy pitstop for Piastri? Nah … they would never do that.”
Thanks Bill.
How is Max Verstappen?
“All good. Like always.”
You always look so relaxed, says Brundle. Are there any nerves?
“Not at all. Just want to have a good time out there. Hopefully we’ll have a good one. We’ll do our best.”
Better to be the hunter than the hunted, I suppose.
“Very good! Excited!” says Novak Djokovic, when asked how he is.
Has he been sending some tennis balls down to Zak Brown?
“Yes I have. He’s been good! He’s been terrific!
“He’s been very relaxed, but now it’s about laser focus … I’m trying to soak it all in, the energy is incredible.”
Are there things he can take from F1 to tennis?
“The first thing that strikes me is, how well it’s organised, how many things that are combined with sport and entertainment, to leave everybody speechless.”
And with that he’s gone.
“I’m so happy to be here,” says Maya Jama, before revealing she was obliged to wear trainers on the grid due to a ban on open-toed shoes. “I’m with Red Bull today, hopefully we can make it to No 1, but we’ll see.”
“Good luck to everyone, hopefully it’s decided tonight… what an event, what an occasion. These are the things you can do when you’re retired,” says Steven Gerrard to Brundle.
“I wouldn’t want anyone near me in the tunnel before a big game,” Rio Ferdinand adds of the drivers rubbing shoulders on the start/finish straight. “But these guys are used to it.”
“The Netflix documentary opened so many eyes, including my own,” says the actor and comedian Kevin Hart of ‘Drive to Survive’. “It’s wonderful to be here.”
John Brewin has West Ham v Liverpool here, by the way:
If Norris outscores his teammate Piastri by four points, he’s the champ.
Who could forget 2021, when Hamilton v Verstappen went right down to the wire?
The famous Martin Brundle grid walk is coming right up!
“I have pipped Oscar Piastri throughout,” says the Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft of the possible destiny of this season’s drivers’ title. “You know what a stubborn old man I am. I’m not changing now.”
Sammy Gecsoyler
Monaco, Las Vegas, Singapore. The list of pitstops on Lando Norris’ road to the top of Formula One is like a luxury travel agent’s catalogue.
So when I was asked to trace the young man’s journey ahead of a weekend in which he could become the first British champion driver since Lewis Hamilton, my hopes were high.
As the taxi pulled up outside the Clay Pigeon Raceway in Dorchester, however, my excitement was taken down a few gears.
It may seem an inauspicious place to blood the talent of those who will become some of the most glamorous, fiery competitors in sport, but here, in the shadow of an industrial estate not far from Yeovil, is where a growing number of Formula One stars are made.
Mathematically, Norris could finish as low as eighth and still be champion. But we are unlikely to need permutations that complex.
Personally I think Norris looks and sounds pretty chilled, and he remains confident of sealing the title, despite the drama of last week’s disqualification.
You can feast your eyes on yesterday’s sprint race and qualifying blog here:
Zak Brown, McLaren CEO, says it’s “business as usual”.
Max Verstappen, meanwhile, said something about trying to get the best possible start.
What do you think will happen today? You can email me.
Preamble
Lando Norris will be world champion for the first time if he wins today. Though given the drama of recent weeks, most notably the disqualification of both McLarens from the Las Vegas GP, it would be little surprise if the drivers’ title goes down to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next week.
More importantly for the destiny of the title, Piastri won yesterday’s sprint race, trimming Norris’s title lead to 22 points and taking pole position: so he is strongly fancied to take the chequered flag later. Max Verstappen of Red Bull isn’t out of contention, either, but will need the cards to fall in his favour.
We can dig into the permutations a bit more but if Norris is at least 25 points ahead of Max Verstappen in a few hours, and 26 or more in front of his teammate Oscar Piastri, he is champion … could we see a new name on that illustrious list today?
Lights out: 4pm UK time.
