Lap 62/72 Leclerc continues to keep Piastri at arm’s length despite driving on far older tyres, and must now be favourite to hang on to third.

Lap 61/72 I’d love to hear how Verstappen feels about this race; it’s so rare we see him so comprehensively shut down, or at least was.

Lap 60/72 We’ve barely seen or heard from Norris, which tells us how easily he’s dealing with this race, the gap increasing lap on lap.

Lap 59/72 Norris now leads Verstappen by 16.163s, the McLaren the fastest car in the paddock by far, and the constructor championship – currently, Red Bull leads by 42 points – is well in the balance.

Lap 58/72 Still, Piastri can’t get at Leclerc in third; he won’t be at all happy with that.

Lap 57/72 A quiet lap, Norris continuing to dictate.

Lap 56/72 Piastri cuts the gap to Leclerc to 1.10s, having regrouped. Can he get to within DRS range?

Lap 55/72 Another fastest lap for Hamilton, now 21.653s behind Russell, who’s in the pits; Norris leads by 15.199s and has been totally untroubled since hitting the front.

Lap 54/72 Leclerc is bousting, looking good to hold off Piastri. I’m not sure how that can be, but it’s good news for Verstappen, who won’t want a McLaren behind him.

Lap 53/72 Norris serenely presses on.

Lap 52/72 Norris keeps at it, the gap between Leclerc in third and Piastri in second grown to 1.336.

Lap 51/72 We’ve barely seen Norris, so nicely is he going; in eighth place, Hamilton sets the fastest lap, but he’ll need to make up 25.236s on Perez to skank seventh.

Lap 50/72 I’m surprised Piastri hasn’t managed to pass Leclerc yet, but it’s good news for Verstappen, who’ll want to hold off the McLaren for as little time as possible; Norris leads the race by 13.623s.

Lap 49/72 Mercedes bring in Hamilton to see if he can have a hit at Perez and Sainz on new softs, as there’s no danger from behind.

Lap 48/72 Piastri still can’t get past Leclerc as we speculate what might happen in the event of a safety car; McLaren think they’ve the gas to change tyres and still win if so.

Lap 47/72 Piastri is just 0.306s behind Leclerc now, while Sainz, who’s been trying for a couple of laps, nips past Perez to take sixth.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Leclerc

4. Piastri

5. Russell

6. Sainz

7. Perez

8. Hamilton

9. Hulkenberg

10. Gasly

Lap 46/72 Norris leads by 11.797s and the McLaren looks swifter than the Red Bull in all conditions and circumstances.

Lap 45/72 The Red Bull is chewing up its tyres; Verstappen tells his team he’s losing grip. In more ways than one!

Lap 44/72 Piastri closes on Leclerc, the gap now 1.490s and it won’t be long before he’s attacking Verstappen – who trails Norris by 11.472.

Lap 43/72 Of course, if Piastri knocks Verstappen into third, his teammate will close the gap at the top of the standings to 67 points with nine races to go.

Lap 42/72 Norris leads by 9.900s but it seems more likely Verstappen will be overtaken by Piastri than overtake the man in charge of the race.

Lap 41/72 Four laps till Piastri is threatening Leclerc, reckons Martin, and if he gets by, Verstappen in second will feel under threat; rightly so, because this McLaren is rapid, especially on hards.

Lap 40/72 The fastest ma on the track now, Piastri nails Russell at the first opportunity and looks good to force his way on to the podium – he’s 3.881s behind Leclerc, who’s third.

Lap 39/72 Norris leads Verstappen by 9.776; Stroll is hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Leclerc

4. Russell

5. Piastri

6. Perez

7. Sainz

8. Haimlton

9. Hulkenberg

10. Magnussen

Lap 38/72 Talking of which Piastri is motoring now, setting a fastest lap and chasing Russell – the gap is 1.308s.

Lap 37/72 Let’s say Norris wins here: can he challenge Verstappen for the title? The McLaren looks by far the fastest car now, but does its lead driver have the nous to go with it?

Lap 36/72 Norris’ lead is building quickly as halfway, now up to 8.477s.

Lap 35/72 Gasly has been cited for an unsafe release but in the meantime he’s 12th; at the front, Norris increases his lead to 7.897 and chances are, we’ve seen the pits we’re going to see. Which of the top five can go fast enough to podium?

Lap 34/72 Piastri pits, gets out in fifth ahead of Gasly, and this is Norris’ time to make hay – he now leads Verstappen by 7.304 and the McLaren looks uncatchable! Who expected to type those words at the start of the season?!

Lap 33/72 Piastri keeps at it, his teammate Norris 2.742s behind and Verstappen 6.609s further back. The clear air for McLaren is exactly what they need and I’m not sure how Red Bull reduce the gap.

Lap 32/72 Sainz and Hamilton move up to eighth and ninth as Alonso pits.

1. Piastri

2. Norris

3. Verstappen

4. Leclerc

5. Russell

6. Gasly

7. Perez

8. Hamilton

9. Gasly

10. Hulkenberg

Lap 31/72 Piastri still leads but in second, Norris is flying, now over six seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Lap 30/72 Hamilton took out Hulkenberg for the second time last lap and now glides by Magnussen to sit 10th.

Lap 29/72 In comes Noz, now fourth and on hards. Verstappen is 4.962 behind; Piastri leads, at least until he stops.

Lap 28/72 Verstappen comes in and emerges in fifth, while Russell, on hards, sets a fastest lap; Norris is still out there, 12.812 ahead of Piastri. Surely he’ll shortly pit?

Lap 27/72 Norris is enjoying this!

Lap 26/72 Russell departs the pits in ninth – Mercedes hoped he’d emerge ahead of Alonso and Leclerc, who now sit in front of him.

Lap 25/72 Norris builds his lead to 4.531s and Leclerc pits, exiting ninth, then Russell is also ordered in. Verstappen doesn’t seem to have the scope to sort himself here.

Lap 24/72 Leclerc goes at Piastri on the outside; Piastri shuts the door. Meantime, Hamilton comes in, coming out at 16th.

Lap 23/72 Hamilton , the only driver on softs, is dredging every bit of life out of them, looking to go after Galy in eighth; Norris builds his lead to 3.281s and it’s hard to see how anyone challenges him.

Lap 22/72 Wow, Norris is 0.7s quicker than Verstappen now, and he’ll be wanting to force the champ to pit first, so he can choose his strategy accordingly.

Lap 21/72 Norris gets that lead over a second, breaking the DRS threat. He’s looking good now.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Russell

4. Piastri

5. Leclerc

6. Perez

7. Sainz

8. Gasly

9. Hamilton

10. Alonso

Lap 20/72 I reckon we’ll see Verstappen come in soon, butNorris is doing all he can to extend a lead now at 0.997. There’s still the possibility of DRS, though, which makes this very tight.

Lap 19/72 There was just nothing Verstappen could do there: the McLaren was way, way quicker and Norris now leads by 0.590s.

Lap 18/72 So who’ll stop first? Will it even matter?! Because Norris has plenty of pace to zip past Verstappen and with clear track ahead of him, he needs to punish his tyres while he still can.

Lap 17/72 Now then! Nozza takes huge chunks out of Verstappen and the lead is now down to 0.633s. They’re almost bumper to bumper and I doubt this is the last we see of these two duelling.

Lap 16/72 Norris tells his team he’s now happy with his tyres and will stop whenever his team advise. The gap is 0.993s, while Albon, now on hards, sets a fastest lap, and Hamilton passes Alonso and now sits ninth.

Lap 15/72 With Albon, 20th, having stopped, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda do likewise. Verstappen leads by 1.0156s, but he’s hanging on, not extending.

Lap 14/72 Hamilton sneaks by Stroll as Norris continues to make ground on Verstappen who might just have an issue with his front tyres, about which he complains to his team. There might just be something happening here.

Lap 13/72 Norris closes a little, now trailing Verstappen by 0.984s. Perhaps he’s trying to rinse his tyres before stopping, having taken it a little easier between the start and now.

Lap 12/72 Verstappen sets a fastest lap as Hamilton looks for DRS in his bid to overtake Stroll; no dice.

Lap 11/72 Gasly and Sainz are locked alongside one another, but the former finds a way past and now sits seventh!

Lap 10/72 Nice from Hamilton, who slides past Hulkenberg on the inside but knows he’s too slow, advising his team of an issue also self-evident given how long it took him to move from 12th to 11th.

Lap 9/72 Norris was asked by his team who he thinks they’re racing – Verstappen in first of Russell in third – and in comms, they can’t grasp why they’re not deciding that for him, given their superior access to information.

Lap 8/72 Norris now trails Verstappen by 1.40s but the McLaren has the pace to challenge – in theory. In practise, how does anyone get by the champ?

Lap 7/72 Verstappen continues building as Magnussen, who started from the pit lane, finds himself sliding off the track.

1. Verstappen

2. Norris

3. Russell

4. Piastri

5. Leclerc

6. Perez

7. Gasly

8. Alonso

9. Sainz

10. Stroll

11. Hulkenberg

12. Hamilton

13. Tsunoda

14. Bottas

15. Ricciardo

16. Ocon

17. Albon

18. Sargeant

19. Magnussen

20. Zhou

Lap 6/72 Verstappen maintains his lead, now at 1.328s, and we see the start again – reaction times are identical but Norris’ wheels spin as the Red bull cuts across into the centre of the track and frankly, that was too easy.

Lap 5/72 Russell, third, 0.850s in front of Piastri, is allowing Leclerc and Perez to close on fourth spot. Piastri will be raging he was passed off the start.