Japanese Grand Prix – Formula One: Live leaderboard and lap-by-lap updates as Max Verstappen holds on to guide within the late levels

Well, welll, well, that lead is now down to 1.3s. Norris is catching, but their tyre age is exactly the same – 23 laps.

He’s also booted Piastri out of DRS range.

Thre we go, Piastri has expressly asked for a chance to whizz past Norris and try to catch Verstappen, who is 1.4s ahead of second.

But Norris is apparently saving his tyres for a late charge.

Remember this – if Norris finishes below second, and Verstappen wis, the Brit loss the championship lead. So he’s going to be extra-against any swap. Would McLaren risk is when they’re runing so well? You’ve got to take a long perspective too.

The top 7 are still well clear of the rest.

Red Bull are telling Verstappen there could be an issue with the front wing flap but he’s ruing fie.

Norris insists his tyres are ok, but now Piastri is within 0.8s of him and in DRS range, seemingly with better tyres.

He’ll be chomping at the bit to get past and have a run at Verstappen.

Yeah, if I’m taking fashion advice off anyone, it’s this guy. He’s cool.

Hamilton has been chewing his race engineer’s ear off about where he’s slow. So far, they seem to be getting on after his previous outbursts this season. Obviously we’re not privy to everything that is said.

He’s in seventh, but on the mediums when most are now on hards – maybe a late surge?

Interesting that it is Piastri, rather than Norris, who is proving the quickest McLaren at the moment. He’s still a little way off his team-mate, mind you. But if this does get close towards the end it will be fascinating to see how the team play it.

Verstappen has been told he’s allowed to push – music to his ears, a cacophany to Norris. Is that the death knell for is hopes? Norris is 1.4s off the Red Bull and Piastri is actually catching him.

Ok, so Lawson and Sainz have stuck on the soft tyres – they’re far back, but could they challenge for points? Stroll struggled with the softs at the start and only made it 10 laps, but he did have a bigger fuel load, of course.

Tsunoda runs in 12th, around 5s off the points, with Bearman 10th.

Antonelli has set the fastest lap on his fresh boots but, more tha 8s back on fifth-placed Russell, it’s a long road ahead.

Russell himself is 3.9s back on Leclerc, who is 6.5s off the top three.

We need something to shake up the order!

Verstappen is now back up top after Antonelli pitted… and he comes out in sxith after a slow stop.

Norris is 1.4s back, so tht gap hs been chopped, and Pistri is 2.2s down in third. The grid is very similar to how it was to start, though now most are on the hard tyres.

Lawson is running ninth but he’ll need to stop (somehow he hasn’t at all, runing on mediums), with Tsunoda down in 15th.

Oohh, could Piastri catch Norris. He’s set the fastest lap but is around 2s behind his team-mate.

Kimi Antonelli is STILL leading and honestly, he’s doing himself a great service, whenever he pits he’s going to come out in a very competitive spot.

Nice overtake from Hadjar as he overatkes Sainz to claim ninth. It’s a good weekend he’s having after driving through the pain barrier in qualifying.

You can form your own view on this one – the stewards are taking no action.

So, an overview of how we run.

1) Antonelli

2) Hamilton +4

3) Verstappen +2.9

4) Norris + 2.0

5) Piastri +1.8

6) Lerlerc + 5.5

7) Russell + 2.7

8) Lawson + 11.9

Kimi Antonelli is doing a fantastic job running out front, 4.3 seconds ahead of Hamilton, and he’s putting in some solid lap times. He’s the youngest driver ever to lead a Formula One race – he was born in August 2006 ad is 18! Man, the kids are too young nowadays…

‘Honestly, you guys make absolutely no sense.’

Albon is aggrieved with how Williams are going about their race today – Haas brought Bearman in and Williams didn’t react. He’s cut a frustrated figure so far.

Now here’s the excitement we’ve been waiting for! Verstappen and Norris still going at it over the radio to their teams, pleading their case – and trying to dob the other one in it. This is the drama we all love.

Norris still feels he was alongside Verstappen and that he was cut off, but man, that was a risky move, trying to ovetake just coming out of the pits. Red Bull had had a slow stop, losing a second, but he retains his lead.

Antonelli leads the race, now.

Oh, and Norris has blown the chance to get past Verstappen!

He looked like he could have challenged Verstappen after both pit, but he went on to the cross coming out of the end of the pit lane! Norris moans tht Verstappen cut him off, but the Red Bull looked pretty straight, there, he was on his line.

LUKE POWER: Piastri entered the puts in third and has come out in ninth on the hard tyres. They wanted to get out ahead of Alonso in 10th and that’s exactly what they’ve done. Piastri had been losing time, so it was needed.

Russell has had a change of tyres, earlier than most of the field, and it took 2.3s, not bad at all.

Verstappen isn’t coming in yet, as he’s been told to push. In what has been a pretty stale race so far, this is where it gets intriguing, where you get a clash of strategies.

Oh, now there’s a twist!

McLaren just told Norris to come into the pits – but he didn’t! Was it an intentional dummy, or is he just ignoring team orders?

They felt he could get the undercut, but it does seem a tad soon for a pit stop – and Ted Kravitz with Sky Sports agrees with me on that.

Crucially, Norris has absolutely slashed that gap to Verstappen, now 1.6s – that was sudden! But he’s losing time on the hairpin.

Tsunoda is catching Gasly for 12th, now aroud 0.75s behind and in DRS range.

Honestly, McLaren have had no answer to Verstappen’s pace. He’s now bumped his gap up to 2.1 seconds over Norris, undoing lots of the progress the Brit had made.

Hamilton is still seveth and 1.8s behind Antonelli, so don’t expect a move there soon.

Doohan has come in for a change of tyres, going onto the hard like Stroll did, but crucially after six more laps on the softs.

Lewis Hamilton was the only driver in the top 16 not to start on the mediums, instead opting for the hards.

He’s making good progress, too. The seven-time world champion swept past Isack Hadjar with ease and is now hunting down Kimi Antonelli.

Christian Horner spoke of the need for clean air at the start of the race, and my, how Verstappen has profited from it.

Norris has cut into his gap, about 0.25s over three laps – it’s something, granted, but gradual.

Piastri has been complaining of rear tyre degradation. One to watch as we’re only just over a fifth of the way into the action.

Verstappen is now almost two full seconds ahead of Norris, with Piastri a further 1.5 back on him, though he holds the fastest lap.

Leclerc is running fourth, Russell fifth, Antonelli sixth, Hamilton seventh.

Stroll has come in to the pits – he started on softs down at the bottom and he’s still there.

Albon has been swearing down the radio that his shifts are also ‘f******’ something…

Norris has been warned over the radio that a lap of rain is expected on lap 20, but that’s not going to change their plan.

Tsunoda found a way past Lawson early doors, so they’re running 13th and 14th, but he’s almost bult a three-second gap, now, so that one is not as tasty as we’d wanted for now.

Verstappen’s upshifts are working a bit better now, so that’s some anxiety off his back.

Hamilton is catching his Ferrari team-mate Antonelli, who sits sixth.

Bearman has thus far clung on to 10th. Still not much change in the order, but that’s to be expected.

Nice one, Hamilton – he’s got past rookie Hadjar into seventh despite being on the hard tyres. They’re looking helpful, that componud, as they’re not overheating as much and he can get out of the chicane snappily.

The problem getting too close at Suzuka is that your tyres can overheat on the S-shaped corners, so there’s a balance to be struck.

Norris will be satisfied that he’s retained his position but it’s concerning that Verstappen is already out of DRS range.

Norris is running about 1.06 seconds behind Verstappen, so just outside DRS range, and for the most part this is a hard track to overtake on.

Antonelli ran off track on the chicane and they’ll look at that to see if he made any gains, though it didn’t look like it.

Verstappen has told Red Bull that his upshifts are ‘really bad,’ but he’s still off to a flyer.

DRS has been enabled. There are still some puddles on the track from the early morning rain. Nobody in the top half has switched position yet, though Bortoleto has dropped three places to last.

Verstappen gets off to a great start and stops any attack from Norris, with Piastri following just behind. Front three all off to a solid start.

No major incidents or clashes.

Rightio, we’re off for the formation lap. Doohan and Stroll are the only chaps starting on soft tyres, right at the back of the grid. Hamilton is the only one in the top half of the grid on the hard compounds.

We’ve got three young guns starting in the top half today – Mercedes’ Antonelli in sixth, Racing Bulls’ Hadjar in seventh, and Haas’ Bearman in 10th.

The neutrals have been praying for rain and although there was a good dousing overnight, it’s looking like it will be a dry race.

If there is any rain at all, it should only be light showers. You’ve got to think that only plays into the hands of the McLaren pair.

No need for anything silly here from Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri. It’s a long, downhill run into turn one but they just need to focus about getting away safely, rather than looking to take on Verstappen.

They need to trust that their superior pace will be enough to get the better of the Dutchman across the course of the race.

It’s not an admission Red Bull have been used to making in recent years, but it’s the right one. McLaren won last season’s Constructors’ Championship and they look good value for another.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told F1 TV:

‘The McLarens are the dominant car at the moment, so to keep them behind is a hell of a job today. Is it a two or a one stop? That’s the big question.

‘Clean air is always valuable at a track like this. It’s not the easiest track to overtake.’

Max Verstappen starts on pole for Red Bull after pipping Lando Norris in the final moments of qualifying.

His new team-mate, Yuki Tsunoda, starts 14th – behind Liam Lawson, the man he has replaced.

Lewis Hamilton has to settle for eighth, four spots behind his co-Ferrari man Charles Leclerc.

We may be set for rain in the middle of the race, so that throws the cat among the pigeons, or a spanner in the works, if you like – though that’s no certainty.

Hello racing fans! How are we doing?

If you’re looking as enthusiastic as the man posing for the photographers below at this time in the morning, I commend you.

If you’re not, well, I’m sure we’ll get there in what promises to be a fascinating race.