Zak Brown of McLaren confirms he has had a stern one with his drivers after they go in each other's way yesterday. "I didn't say please," he laughs. "It's an order."
Our race comprises 62 laps and the relatively long track means it'll last roundabout two hours. It's hot, too, meaning a proper physical struggle for our drivers.
Hamilton thinks he's got a good car and has a good chance to put pressure on Verstappen. If he gets one of his starts, he can win this from the front.
Yet another way in which The Clash were visionaries.
1 🇩🇪 556pts
2 🇮🇹 405
3 316
4 🇦🇹 298
5 🇮🇹 90
6 🇫🇷 68
7 🇺🇸 27
8 🇩🇪 17
9 12
10 7
11 🇺🇸 0
1 🇮🇹 325 pts
2 236
3 221
4 191
5 188
6 188
7 🇦🇺 128
8 🇫🇷 96
9 🇳🇿 65
10 🇫🇷 41
11 38
12 🇦🇷 27
13 20
14 🇧🇷 10
15 🇩🇪 7
16 🇫🇷 7
17 🇪🇸 7
18 🇪🇸 7
19 🇹🇭 5
20 🇯🇵 1
Yet to score:
🇨🇦
🇫🇮
🇲🇽
1 🇳🇱 1:31.373
2 🇲🇨 1:31.427
3 1:31.496
4 🇮🇹 1:31.562
5 1:31.712
6 1:31.712
7 🇦🇺 1:31.860
8 🇫🇷 1:32.225
9 🇳🇿 1:32.369
10 1:32.781
11 🇩🇪 1:32.784
12 1:32.908
13 🇫🇷 1:33.323
14 🇪🇸 1:33.526
15 🇧🇷 1:33.658
16 🇦🇷 1:33.787
17 🇪🇸 1:34.223
18 🇹🇭 1:34.289
19 🇨🇦 1:34.946
20 🇲🇽 1:35.123
21 🇫🇮 1:35.984
22 🇫🇷
1 🇳🇱 1:31.373
2 🇲🇨 1:31.427
3 1:31.496
4 🇮🇹 1:31.562
5 1:31.712
6 🇦🇺 1:31.860
7 🇫🇷 1:32.225
8 🇳🇿 1:32.369
9 1:32.781
10 🇩🇪 1:32.784
11 1:32.908
12 🇫🇷 1:33.323
13 🇪🇸 1:33.526
14 🇧🇷 1:33.658
15 🇦🇷 1:33.787
16 🇹🇭 1:34.289
17 🇲🇽 1:35.123
18 🇫🇮 1:35.984
*19 1:31.712
-
Starting from the pitlane 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 1:34.223
* 🇨🇦 1:34.946
* Dropped to the back of the grid for taking new elements
Also going on:
Sport loves hyperbole, but sometimes, that hyperbole is true: we stand on the cusp of history. At some point soon, perhaps this month, we will bathe in the light of the F1's youngest world champion, when Kimi Antonelli gets the 100 points he needs to lift this year's driver championship. When you're bousting cars around twisty tracks at 225mph, stuff can happen – and we don't even know how many more races there'll be this season – but even so, it's surely coming.
Antonelli starts this race from fourth on the grid, suboptimal but for the fact that a huge penalty for taking a new power unit leaves George Russell, his closest challenger, in P21. And, though Lewis Hamilton, the only other driver still with a shot of thwarting him, goes from third, with only one race-win this season, it seems inconceivable that he suddenly hits the kind of streak that closes a 104-point gap in four or five races.
Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is doing his best to redeem a miserable season – in a sense, he's already started next. His Red Bull is beginning to purr and, having first won yesterday's sprint, he subsequently secured pole; if he gets away well, he'll take some catching.
Lights out: 8pm local, 1pm BST