Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I'm really surprised Franco Colapinto hasn't had to box for a puncture because it was [Lewis Hamilton's] front wing to his rear tyre.

Lewis Hamilton is flagging he has lost a lot of downforce now because of that floor damage. Yuki Tsunoda was also in the wars during the opening lap, so the Japanese driver also came into the pits for a tactical swap. Medium tyres now for the red Bull man.

Lando Norris leads, Kimi Antonelli is second and Charles Leclerc is third - the top five basically is as you were. The first corners were more like bumper cars for a lot of drivers, and we've already lost Gabriel Bortoleto from the running.

"Stroll pushed me out. He just turned as if I was not there."

Lewis Hamilton has come into the pits for some repairs to the front wing and he's rejoined the track at the back of the field. The Ferrari man is now on the hard tyre but it looks like he may have damage to his floor also.

Gabriel Bortoleto is watching on from the side of the road. What a terrible weekend at home it has been for the Brazilian.

Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

That is absolute heartbreak for the home hero Gabriel Bortoleto. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a virtual safety car because his front wing is on the floor and there is a lot of debris out.

Image source, Getty Images

A full safety car is deployed as the cameras pan to Gabriel Bortoleto's family in the Sauber garage. George Russell also lost a place to Liam Lawson on the race start, and his old Mercedes buddy Lewis Hamilton tumbled down the order, the seven-time world champion tagged by the Williams of Carlo Sainz.

Gabriel Bortoleto was caught out by one of the Aston Martins and ended up in the grass.

Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

That was an awful start from Lewis Hamilton, he's been the biggest loser of that and even the pit lane starters are on his tail.

And we're off!

Lando Norris is clean through and leads from pole heading out of the first two corners. Kimi Antonelli on the softs is struggling slightly but stays in second. Lewis Hamilton has dropped right down the order and is now 17th. Did he make contact with someone?

Gabriel Bortoleto has crashed! The Brazilian is in the barriers and the yellow flags are out!

Mixed strategy galore for the start of this Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Lando Norris is creeping to his grid box followed by the Mercedes of rookie Kimi Antonelli. Will the Italian be able to challenge off the line? The lights are about to go out...

Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Lando Norris' change of mindset and approach to the second half of the season has maybe caught Oscar Piastri a little bit off guard and he just seems to be tripping over his own feet a little bit.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

It looks like Red Bull's floor that they introduced in Mexico hasn't really worked because Max Verstappen had a really strong run in the previous races.

He had a difficult weekend in Mexico and used the same floor at the start of this weekend, changed it for qualifying and they've stuck with the one they used in qualifying but made a whole load of other set up changes to the car.

He's not been happy with the grip of the car all weekend.

What tyres have we got then? Lando Norris is on mediums, Kimi Antonelli has gone soft, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri have joined championship leader Norris on the yellow rubber.

In the pit lane, Max Verstappen and Esteban Ocon are opting for the hards at lights out.

Haas' Oliver Bearman spoke to Sky Sports before the race: "Bit of mist in the air, it's sort of a British autumn day. It is definitely going to be an interesting one, and hopefully we have a good race today.

"It's a tight first lap, but it's an incredibly long race, 71 laps. So, yeah, it's going to be an interesting one for sure."

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is a much cooler 17.1C and track 30.5C.

Wind from south/south-south-east, with gusts to 23mph.

Very light (to Class 1) pockets of showery rain reported lately by some team staff and drivers heading to grid.

FIA official risk of rain is 40%.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Uncertainty abounds heading into this race. For a start, the weather. The forecast was for minimal rain, and only in the morning. But it rained more heavily than expected, and again around lunchtime.

Will the start be wet or dry?

Will the race have consistent conditions?

All unknown.

In the dry, the soft and medium tyres are favoured because the hard is too hard. But the soft has not been performing well - many drivers have been complaining of a lack of grip - and it went off quite quickly in the sprint on Saturday. Those who switched to it after the red flag - Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso, for example - struggled compared to those behind them.

The call between a one-stop and a two-stop is close, and most if not all teams are going into the race with doubts about the strategy. A pit stop takes about 22 seconds under green-flag conditions, 11 under a safety car. Having the DRS gives a car behind a lap-time advantage of 0.5 seconds.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen spoke to Sky Sports: "For a podium for sure (need luck). I hope we have a bit of pace over the back 10 cars, and hopefully we can get back into the points and then with a bit of luck and a safety car, we can fight for better points. Not a lot of rain, just a little bit of drizzle."

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren's Oscar Piastri speaking to Sky Sports on how the track is feeling: "Tricky. A little bit of rain makes a bit of a different around here. We will see what we get, but it should be good fun."