Achi news desk-
Lap 54/57: Three laps to go. Norris’ lead is 6.918 seconds.
Lap 53/57: Norris has been flawless since the restart of the race. There were very few outward signs of nerves as he closed in on his first win as a GP. Albon is off the track but it doesn’t look like the safety car will appear – good news for Norris.
Lap 52/57: Norris is now over six seconds ahead with Verstappen second. Five laps to go.
Lap 50/57: Some all Austrian as Piastri and Ricciardo battle for 16th. Ricciardo holds off his compatriot for now. Team radio tells Piastri to calm down: they don’t want the safety car out, jeopardizing team-mate Norris’ chance for a first win.
Lap 49/57: McLaren looks nervous but Norris extends his lead slightly to 5.691sec. Alonso gets Ocon in the end and the Spaniard up to ninth. Here are the top 10:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Sainz
5) Perez
6) Hamilton
7) Tsunoda
8) Russell
9) Alonso
10) Ocon
Lap 48/57: Verstappen is ahead of Norris but it’s a matter of tenths of a second, which won’t be enough at the moment. Norris leads by 5.220 seconds.
Lap 47/57: Alonso has a dart at Ocon in ninth but can’t get past him.
Lap 45/57: Norris is very, very close to his first ever F1 win, after 110 career starts. His lead is now over five seconds.
Lap 44/57: Leader Norris is pushing more than four seconds for the first time since the race restarted.
Lap 43/57: The good news for Piastri: he set the fastest lap. The bad news: he won’t get a world championship point for that because he’s not close enough to the leader (he’s last).
Lap 42/57: Norris is 3.319 seconds ahead of Verstappen in second place. Your top 10:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Sainz
5) Perez
6) Hamilton
7) Tsunoda
8) Russell
9) Ocon
10) Alonso
Lap 41/57: Piastri has had a few very bad laps: Perez and Hamilton overtake him and he has damage to his front wing: he will have to puncture. His challenge is almost certainly over. It returns in 19th.
Lap 40/57: “I can’t get the car to turn, it’s a disaster,” Verstappen said on the team radio. Now F1 is not my No.1 sport, but me can driving and I can assure you that not being able to turn a car makes things difficult. Sainz overtakes Piastri in fourth. They’ve had a big fight today.
Lap 38/57: Norris is faster than Verstappen in all three sectors of the lap – the lead is now 2.590 seconds. Hamilton, on medium compounds, unlike most of the other top 10, is quite quick in seventh and could move up the field.
Lap 37/57: Sainz and Piastri are fighting for fourth place in Australia, the steward investigated to see if Piastri caught him off the field illegally but they say there is no case to answer. Norris’ lead is now up to two seconds.
Lap 35/57: Things are looking good for Norris, who has extended his lead to 1.5 seconds. This would be a big surprise if he can beat Verstappen on a track where he held pole and overtaking is very difficult.
Lap 34/57: The leaders after the safety car and the pits:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Plates
5) Sainz
6) Perez
7) Hamilton
Lap 33/57: The green flag is out and the safety car is done. Let’s see how Norris deals with this. Norris is holding off the champion for now – his tires are five laps fresher than Verstappen’s. And Norris is now more than a second clear of first. If he can keep that gap then he should be able to nullify the threat of the DRS.
Lap 32/57: The safety car has done its job and the pack is assembled with Verstappen just behind Norris now, ready for the restart.
Lap 31/57: Magnussen has been handed a 10 second penalty for the collision that ended Sargeant’s day.
Lap 31/57: Norris is in the lead after some good luck with the safety car but I must say he drove very well, and has the fastest lap today. He also has fresher tires than Verstappen, which will help.
Lap 30/57: Norris fades and comes back to the front – some good luck for him with the field slowed down thanks to the safety car. Norris is in front and can extend his lead, this is very good timing for him.
Lap 28/57: Floridian Logan Sargeant has crashed in his home race, shame. And the safety car is out, which could play into Norris’ hands. Sargeant gets out of his car and seems fine.
Lap 27/57: Norris leads – probably briefly – after Piastri and Sainz pit. Verstappen is 11 seconds behind in a second. But Max should regain his lead when Norris goes to the pit.
Lap 26/57: Verstappen hitting that bollard on the chicane seems to have affected things for everyone: “It’s impossible to see the curb in the chicane,” Hamilton said on the team radio.
Lap 25/57: Verstappen is now on the hard tyres, which most people have switched to after starting on medium compounds. Norris has set the fastest lap, he is third.
Lap 24/57: Verstappen Pits – it’s a nice fast one – and Piastri leads for now. It doesn’t look like there was any damage when max hit that cone as he was in and out of the pit lane quickly. Verstappen is back on track in fourth place.
Lap 23/57: The virtual safety car is on after that cone drifts onto the track. Someone will pull it – it could be dangerous if it flies into a car or into the crowd. And it seems that the goal has been achieved as the virtual safety car has now been made.
Lap 22/57: A rare lapse from Verstappen who clips a bollard on a chicane but it bounces into the middle of the track and doesn’t affect him too much. They may need the virtual safety car while they clear the debris.
Lap 20/57: Your Top 10:
1) Verstappen
2) Plates
3) Sainz
4) Norris
5) Hamilton
6) Leclerc
7) Russell
8) Tsunoda
9) Perez
10) Ocon
Lap 19/57: Perez enters the pits and Norris moves up to fifth. Perez rejoins in ninth. Verstappen’s lead is up to 3.5 seconds. Leclerc pits and returns sixth after a quick pit of just under two seconds.
