Lap 9/62 It’s nuts how quickly McLaren have improved. I mean, obviously they’ve been working at it for time, but they’ve gone from nowhere to everywhere in next to no time and Norris leads Verstappen by 3.924s.

Lap 8/62 Fastest lap from Nozza, now 2.305s in front of Verstappen. He’s looking very good indeed.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Hamilton

4. Russell

5. Piastri

6. Hulkenberg

7. Alonso

8. Leclerc

9. Colapinto

10. Perez

Lap 7/62 It’s hot and humid, apparently, which can’t be pleasant for the drivers; we check-in with Leclerc, who needs to find a way past Alonso in seventh. Ferrari, we’re told, think they’ve a fast car tonight, but in order to exploit it they need to get nearer the front.

Lap 6/62 Norris extends his lead to 1.568s, while Verstappen sets a fastest lap in increasing the gap between him and Hamilton, now at 1.3s. The soft tyres might’ve been the wrong call.

Lap 5/62 Looking again at the start, Verstappen was, perhaps, hampered by the speed of Hamilton behind him, forced to defend when he wanted to attack. Coalpinto, meanwhile, drove over the lip of the track to the consternation of Albon, who dropped right down the placings after others get away better.

Lap 4/62 Russell told to increase the pace as “the guys at the front are getting away”. Norris sets a fastest lap, his lead now 1.445, while Verstappen puts an extra second between him and Hamilton, the gap now 1.2s.

Lap 3/62 Verstappen is now out of DRS and Hamilton, 1.5s behind, is gaining on him. If Norris’ car doesn’t let him down, even at this early stage it’s hard to see how he doesn’t win this race.

Lap 2/62 Colapinto, by the way, made up three places on the first lap, so now sits ninth. Norris leads by 1.231, meaning Verstappen should get DRS on him … but the lead is increasing.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Hamilton

4. Russell

5. Piastri

6. Hulkenberg

7. Alonso

8. Leclerc

9. Colapinto

10. Perez

Lap 1/62 It takes a while for everyone to settle, here come the lights and Norris starts well, ahead into turn one with Hamilton also getting away nicely … but he can’t pass Verstappen. Hukelnberg, meanwhile, goes by Piastri, who’s back in front of him almost immediately.

We’re almost ready…

The formation lap is under way, all the top 13 bar Hamilton on mediums. Verstappen has the inside line on Norris going into turn one, and it doesn’t feel absurd to say the race may be decided in that little vignette.

Hamilton, by the way is racing in his 350th GP. What a ridiculous career he’s had; I really hope we get to see him in a properly competitive car again, before he turns it in.

There’s something very special about night races. It looks awesome out there.

We’re nearly ready to go. This is going to be something.

Stroll’s got a brake issue, so the mechanics are sorting them as a precautionary measure. It looks iffy that the car’s ready in time, but the team are certain there’s no issue.

“We have to be careful what we say,” Verastappen tells Brundle, whose next line is “Where’s Lenny Kravitz?” Last I heard, wandering through the fields of joy.

Christian Horner thinks it’ll be “an exciting first lap,” so I guess he suspects that if Verstappen can’t get by Norris at the start, he may have to content himself with defending second.

Mark Cavendish – sorry, Cav – is also in attendance and getting very close to disrespecting Martin Brundle’s personal space when responding to questions. He loves the mental focus of F1, saying in his game you have to build your own engine but the F1 drivers can’t lose concentration for a second whereas he races are so long you can “chill into them”. I once heard him memorably say, talking about the Tour, that “it means something to suffer that much”, so I think he may be doing himself down a tad.

Jackie Stewart is in the house, trademark tartan flat-cap on his swede of course. We should all look so good at 85 (apologies, I’ve no usable photos currently).

Marshawn Lynch-style.

I can’t believe he still has to do this in 2024. But go on Lewis.

It looks like a one-stop strategy, soft to hard, for our likely winners. Overtaking on this circuit has been tricky previously, but there’s a new DRS zone that might help. Ph, and this race has never been completed without a safety car.

Also going on:

Nozza looks as relaxed as ever and, as he’s explaining how confident he is in his car, Russell comes up from behind shouting “Let’s go Landoooo!” He sees every race as an opportunity but he’s competing against a lot of great guys and people forget Red Bull are still Red Bull – which seems unlikely. He knows it’s in the balance.

The best driver in the last seven races – none of which have been won by the champ – is Oscar Piastri. He drove brilliantly last week, his composure particularly noteworthy, and he’ll back himself to outpace the two Mercedeseseses in front of him.

The grid

Preamble