- Live updates from the first race of the F1 season
- Giles Richards: Hamilton’s genius faces fresh test
- Qualifying: Verstappen takes pole to lay down early marker
3.41pm BST
Sergio Perez’s Red Bull underwent a precautionary change of energy store earlier, but apparently it’s nothing to worry about. “Hopefully he can have a good debut race for Red Bull this afternoon,” says Christian Horner, who expects Mercedes to “throw the kitchen sink at it”. Perez starts in 11th.
3.34pm BST
How they line up:
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
6. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
7. Lando Norris (McLaren)
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
11. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
12. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
14. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
15. George Russell (Williams)
16. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
17. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
18. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
3.30pm BST
And another familiar name enters the fray today: Mick Schumacher, son of Michael, will take to the track for the Haas team as the most-scrutinised rookie F1 has seen for decades. As this interview shows, he talks a good game:
Related: Mick Schumacher: ‘That weight of the name, to me it’s light as a feather’
3.23pm BST
Fernando Alonso makes his F1 return today after two years away. “I have to get better myself first of all because even today it was like the very first time on these gritty tyres and gritty qualifying session,” he said yesterday. “It’s going to be the first time doing a formation lap, the traffic lights, the first corner action. It seems like simple things for a racing driver but after two years it’s going to feel again like new for me.”
3.21pm BST
And here’s our report from yesterday’s qualifying, when Max Verstappen hinted at a very exciting season indeed:
Related: Max Verstappen lays down early marker and beats Hamilton to Bahrain F1 pole
3.13pm BST
And on that possible swansong – here’s Giles Richards’ piece on a big season for Lewis Hamilton:
Related: Lewis Hamilton’s genius faces fresh test as he aims for record eighth title
2.45pm BST
Rampant domination is all well and good, but sport is always best when there’s a healthy dose of stiff and bloodthirsty competition. Which is why the history of Formula One is, at heart, a history of rivalries: Senna and Prost, Hunt and Lauda, Hill and Schumacher.
Verstappen and Hamilton is unlikely to join that list of all-timers but, for now, a rivalry of any sort would be very welcome. And, with the new season upon us, the early signs are good. Lewis Hamilton has had a nice run of rampant domination. But now, all being well, he might just be in for a year of bloodthirsty competition.