Lap 44/62 McLaren might think about pitting Norris to get fresh tyres and go for Piastri’s fastest-lap point; currently, if he wins every race from pole along with every fastest-lap point, Verstappen coming second to him, they’ll start the final weekend level at the top.

Lap 43/62 Ferrari order Sainz to let Leclerc by and he does, as Piastri sets a fastest lap; Norris won’t like that because he’ll want the bonus point. But he leads by 23.970s, and I’m sure he’d’ve taken that.

Lap 42/62 Another fastest lap to Norris, who is punishing the field; Piastri closes on Russell, eating up a second in one go-around so, with the gap 2.621, there’ll be a tussle in three laps’ time.

Lap 41/62 A round of applause in the McLaren garage as Piastri passes Hamilton and sets about cutting Russell’s lead, now standing at 4.521s; Norris sets a fastest lap. His car is a brute.

Lap 40/62 If Norris can keep taking pole, he can keep winning races – his car is now the fastest by far. Piastri, by the way, is out and in fifth, 0.479 behind Hamilton; he’ll surely pass him soon.

Lap 39/62 Finally, Piastri comes in; Norris leads Veratappen by 23.292. Russell, meanwhile, is a further 14.719 off the lead.

Lap 38/62 Colapinto leaves the track and overtakes Ricciardo – he might be in trouble for that – while Norris builds. We’ve not seen him since the start, which tells us how comfy he is.

Lap 37/62 Norris sets yet another fastest lap, leading Piastri by 13.113s – the Aussie really needs a new set of tyres – with Verstappen another nine seconds behind him.

Lap 36/62 Norris extends the gap between him and Piastra as Russell, held up by Leclerc, feels the breath of Hamilton’s nostrils on his neck. We might be about to enjoy some Merc-on-Merc action.

Lap 35/62 Piastri plots his strategy, but in comms they reckon McLaren are hoping he gets a safety car. Usually we’ve had one by now, but actually it looks unlikely here given the gaps between the cars.

Lap 34/62 Piastri still hasn’t stopped, and he’ll be looking at the gaps to see when he can dart in and out to undercut.

Lap 33/62 Norris leads Piastri by 6.638, while Verstappen is lapping a little quicker than both.

1. Norris

2. Piastri

3. Verstappen

4. Leclerc

5. Russell

6. Hamilton

7. Tsunoda

8. Sainz

9. Alonso

10. Hulkenberg

11. Perez

12. Colapinto

13. Gasly

14. Ricciardo

15. Zhou

16. Bottas

17. Ocon

18. Magnussen

19. Stroll

Lap 32/62 Into the second half of the race now, Verstappen, third, 17.391s behind Norris with Piastri, yet to stop, splitting them. Oh and look at that! We see the incident that had Norris feart he’s caught the way and he might’ve shaved a coat of paint off it but otherwise all good.

Lap 31/62 Norris comes in and his wing is left well alone, so he must be fine; he leads Piastri by 2.921 while Verstappen fumes thinking he’s lost race position to Leclerc who he doesn’t know has pitted. Either way, he passes.

Lap 30/62 Verstappen comes in and can’t get by Lecler when he comes out; there’s concern Norris damaged his front wing clipping the wall, though he’s got the time to have it changed for him should he need that.

Lap 29/62 It’s cost him plenty of aggravation but Leclerc finally passes Hulkenberg to make fourth. In front, Piastri is bousting and he has to because Russell with be lightening on his new hards.

Lap 28/62 Russell comes in and comes out eighth, a place ahead of Hamilton. Piastria, meanwhile, now third, is told to get on with it.

Lap 27/62 This has been strangely uneventful so far, the new DRS zone offering little to aid overtakes. Norris is so far clear it’s silly.

Lap 26/62 Hamilton passes Tsunoda then goes so wide on the corner, Tsunoda reverses him. Norris’ lead passes 20s as he sets another fastest lap.

Lap 25/62 Norris ploughs on, the lead now almost 20s. What a car the McLaren now is.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Russell

4. Piastri

5. Hulkenberg

6. Alonso

7. Leclerc

8. Colapinto

9. Perez

10. Tsunoda

11. Hamilton

12. Ocon

Lap 24/62 Leclerc, in seventh, is frustrated: he’s meant top protect what he has but wants to add more to it – though, in front, Alonso and Hulkenberg are driving well.

Lap 23/62 So what does Norris have to do to win the driver championship? Help from Piastri would be one way – if his teammate can beat Verstappen in qualifying, he might just have the pace to hold him off in the races.

Lap 22/62 Norris speeds lonely as a cloud, leading by 16.504 with Verstappen leading Russell by 11 or so; Hamilton, picking back through the field after pitting, passes Ocon and now sits 11th.

Lap 21/62 Hulkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc are tussling for fourth place, currently sat in that order; Hulkneberg does well to stick in position/

Lap 20/62 Piastri looks like he might come in and try to undercut Russell, but at the front, the lead is increasing.

Lap 19/62 Norris continues to build while Piastri, fourth, is within DRS of Russell, third. We may have a battle coming up … but the Brit does well to widen the gap again.

Lap 18/62 Hamilton pits and comes out in 13th sporting hards. I can’t see a way he can close on Verstappen, but over the years he’s done plenty of things I couldn’t see, so.

Lap 17/62 Albon turns off the car and he’s out – overheating due to something in one of the ducts. Norris leads Verstappen by 11.411s with Hamilton a further 8.102s behind and Russell 1.900 away from him.

Lap 16/62 Albon is adrift at the back of the field, and his car can’t be right. I think he’s pitting, but perhaps he’ll actually be retiring. Perez, meanwhile, is impressed by how well Colapinto, ninth to his 10th, is doing.

Lap 15/62 Norris moves away from Verstappen who moves away from Hamilton; so far, so rivetingly uneventful.

Lap 14/62 Sainz, 14th, comes in, comes out on hards, and holds off Albon to stay 18th – while Norris goes away and away. “Undercut power looks strong,” he tells his team.

Lap 13/62 Norris leads by 7.586, but winning every remaining race with Verstappen coming second wouldn’t be enough for him to take the championship. He’ll need some help.

Lap 12/62 Norris is building and building, the gap now almost six seconds. How he’d love someone to get at Verstappen from behind, but Hamilton is nearly six seconds further back.

Lap 11/62 Ricciardo makes an early stop and though he comes out last, he’ll appreciate the clean air he’s now enjoying. Norris sets another fastest lap.

Lap 10/62 Another fastest lap from Norris takes the lead up to 4.515s; I doubt we see much of him today because the race is behind him. But Verstappen is well clear of Hamilton who’s well clear of Russell who’s well clear of Piastri, so there’s not much action at the front.

Lap 9/62 It’s nuts how quickly McLaren have improved. I mean, obviously they’ve been working at it for time, but they’ve gone from nowhere to everywhere in next to no time and Norris leads Verstappen by 3.924s.

Lap 8/62 Fastest lap from Nozza, now 2.305s in front of Verstappen. He’s looking very good indeed.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Hamilton

4. Russell

5. Piastri

6. Hulkenberg

7. Alonso

8. Leclerc

9. Colapinto

10. Perez

Lap 7/62 It’s hot and humid, apparently, which can’t be pleasant for the drivers; we check-in with Leclerc, who needs to find a way past Alonso in seventh. Ferrari, we’re told, think they’ve a fast car tonight, but in order to exploit it they need to get nearer the front.

Lap 6/62 Norris extends his lead to 1.568s, while Verstappen sets a fastest lap in increasing the gap between him and Hamilton, now at 1.3s. The soft tyres might’ve been the wrong call.

Lap 5/62 Looking again at the start, Verstappen was, perhaps, hampered by the speed of Hamilton behind him, forced to defend when he wanted to attack. Coalpinto, meanwhile, drove over the lip of the track to the consternation of Albon, who dropped right down the placings after others get away better.

Lap 4/62 Russell told to increase the pace as “the guys at the front are getting away”. Norris sets a fastest lap, his lead now 1.445, while Verstappen puts an extra second between him and Hamilton, the gap now 1.2s.

Lap 3/62 Verstappen is now out of DRS and Hamilton, 1.5s behind, is gaining on him. If Norris’ car doesn’t let him down, even at this early stage it’s hard to see how he doesn’t win this race.

Lap 2/62 Colapinto, by the way, made up three places on the first lap, so now sits ninth. Norris leads by 1.231, meaning Verstappen should get DRS on him … but the lead is increasing.

1. Norris

2. Verstappen

3. Hamilton

4. Russell

5. Piastri

6. Hulkenberg

7. Alonso

8. Leclerc

9. Colapinto

10. Perez

Lap 1/62 It takes a while for everyone to settle, here come the lights and Norris starts well, ahead into turn one with Hamilton also getting away nicely … but he can’t pass Verstappen. Hukelnberg, meanwhile, goes by Piastri, who’s back in front of him almost immediately.

We’re almost ready…

The formation lap is under way, all the top 13 bar Hamilton on mediums. Verstappen has the inside line on Norris going into turn one, and it doesn’t feel absurd to say the race may be decided in that little vignette.

Hamilton, by the way is racing in his 350th GP. What a ridiculous career he’s had; I really hope we get to see him in a properly competitive car again, before he turns it in.

There’s something very special about night races. It looks awesome out there.

We’re nearly ready to go. This is going to be something.

Stroll’s got a brake issue, so the mechanics are sorting them as a precautionary measure. It looks iffy that the car’s ready in time, but the team are certain there’s no issue.

“We have to be careful what we say,” Verastappen tells Brundle, whose next line is “Where’s Lenny Kravitz?” Last I heard, wandering through the fields of joy.

Christian Horner thinks it’ll be “an exciting first lap,” so I guess he suspects that if Verstappen can’t get by Norris at the start, he may have to content himself with defending second.

Mark Cavendish – sorry, Cav – is also in attendance and getting very close to disrespecting Martin Brundle’s personal space when responding to questions. He loves the mental focus of F1, saying in his game you have to build your own engine but the F1 drivers can’t lose concentration for a second whereas he races are so long you can “chill into them”. I once heard him memorably say, talking about the Tour, that “it means something to suffer that much”, so I think he may be doing himself down a tad.

Jackie Stewart is in the house, trademark tartan flat-cap on his swede of course. We should all look so good at 85 (apologies, I’ve no usable photos currently).

Marshawn Lynch-style.

I can’t believe he still has to do this in 2024. But go on Lewis.

It looks like a one-stop strategy, soft to hard, for our likely winners. Overtaking on this circuit has been tricky previously, but there’s a new DRS zone that might help. Ph, and this race has never been completed without a safety car.

Also going on:

Nozza looks as relaxed as ever and, as he’s explaining how confident he is in his car, Russell comes up from behind shouting “Let’s go Landoooo!” He sees every race as an opportunity but he’s competing against a lot of great guys and people forget Red Bull are still Red Bull – which seems unlikely. He knows it’s in the balance.

The best driver in the last seven races – none of which have been won by the champ – is Oscar Piastri. He drove brilliantly last week, his composure particularly noteworthy, and he’ll back himself to outpace the two Mercedeseseses in front of him.