Max Verstappen is building a comfortable lead out in front to Lando Norris, the Dutchman's buffer now 2.3 seconds over the McLaren.

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton uses DRS to overtake George Russell but the 39-year-old doesn't keep the place for long, as his younger team-mate uses the same advantage to take back the podium spot.

Charles Leclerc has come in there was some damage on that opening stint and he's been called into the pits.

Charles Leclerc is into the pits for a front wing change. The Monegasque driver is tumbling down the field now.

George Russell now has team-mate Lewis Hamilton on his tail and is being hassled by the seven-time world champion for third.

The Red Bull of Max Verstappen is away from Lando Norris, as the McLaren now has George Russell for company. The two cars are side-by-side into Turn Three but Norris stays ahead.

Oscar Piastri has dropped down the order to eighth but he's able to pass Charles Leclerc a few corners later. It looks like Leclerc has damage to his Ferrari.

Image source, Getty Images

Max or Lando for the win. Thumbs!

It's deceptive, it's a short lap but there's a lot going on and with the race being so tow dependent here.

The huge crowd of orange roar as Max Verstappen passes by. The Dutchman is leading the pack to the start line and has the McLaren of Lando Norris right on his tail already.

Image source, Getty Images

On paper it's a two-stop using that medium and hard tyre, with a 48 degree track, which is the hottest race we've seen here since 2021, it's actually the three-stop is even closer than the one-stop. The teams are going to have to manage those tyres.

Medium tyres are the starting compound of choice across the field, expect for Sauber, who have put pit-lane starter Zhou Guanyu on the hards.

It's windy, a strong gusty wind that may affect the car and the plans that they've all had. Fingers crossed it gives us an exciting race.

Red Bull are still top of the pile in the constructors' championship with a 63-point advantage over Ferrari in second place.

McLaren are closing the gap on the Scuderia, though, with only 26 points between the two teams following the sprint.

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen has extended his title lead to 71 points over Lando Norris in second following his sprint win yesterday, while Norris has put six points between himself third-placed Charles Leclerc.

Sergio Perez was once up in the VIP seats with his Red Bull team-mate but the Mexican needs to take a look over his shoulder in fifth, as McLaren's Oscar Piastri is inching ever closer in sixth.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The Austrian Grand Prix looks like being a two-stop race for most, and all things being equal, Max Verstappen is expected to dominate.

The Red Bull is making most of its advantage in Turns Seven and Nine, the fastest corners on the track, where Verstappen is considerably quicker than any other car, emphasising its superiority in corners of around 250km/h.

Red Bull have gone for a different tyre strategy than most. They have saved two sets of new hard tyres - so clearly intend to base their race on those after starting on the medium. McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari all have two new sets of medium, so will focus on those.The medium provides better grip but also requires more management.

This is a race where thermal degradation is dominant, and so drivers will have to treat tyres carefully. The risk with the hard is that its lower grip can generate wheelspin out of the slower corners, which can spike temperatures, which reduces grip further, and a driver can get into a spiral of decreasing grip.

Despite that, most expect it to require external help for anyone to challenge Verstappen - safety car timing or unexpected degradation on the Red Bull for example. DRS is worth 0.7 seconds a lap.

A pit stop takes about 20 seconds under green flag conditions; half that under safety car. And overtaking, once a car has four or five laps’ tyre advantage, is relatively easy.

Oscar Piastri will start down in seventh after having his lap time deleted in qualifying, he told Sky Sports: "We will try our best, think we've got a quick car so we will try and make our way to the front where we should be.

"The tyres aren't going to like it if it's this hot but there will be opportunities [to overtake] so we will try and get back up there."

Image source, Getty Images

Max Verstappen's father, Jos, told Sky Sports: "I think it's difficult, with all the DRS zones here, they have a fast car and they are fast. I don't think it's that easy to disappear. He [Max] will try but you've got to look after the tyres and everything, but he knows what to do, I don't get involved."

Image source, Getty Images

The elation of that Monaco Grand Prix victory seems a long time ago for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver has gone from second in the championship down to third after two races finishing outside the podium places.

Leclerc was sitting in P4 after the first runs in Q3 on Saturday on a set of used tyres. But the 26-year-old took a trip across the gravel after an error-strew final lap and will now start in P6.

He said: “It’s frustrating because whenever you know you have the potential to do well and you do a mistake yourself it always hurts but it is not a disaster.

"I am bit disappointed because with the team we had two or three races where we had a tough time and today was an opportunity to be in the top three but I didn’t do a good job on that second lap. But the first lap on scrubbed tyres was really good."

All drivers have assembled on the grid and who knows what's going to happen next. Hans Zimmer is leading the musicians and singers on his guitar. Excellent. Very much got the blood pumping that.

Williams team principal James Vowles is stopped by Sky Spotrts' Martin Brundle on his grid walk and says: "We're not good in these temperatures, so it's going to be a tough day for everyone out there." Alex Albon starts 16th and Logan Sargeant is 19th.

Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer says he has rustled up something special for the Austrian national anthem...

Image source, Getty Images

It was another difficult day for Aston Martin, whose form has suffered an alarming slump since being regular top five qualifiers at the start of the season.

Fernando Alonso beat team-mate Lance Stroll, who had out-qualified him for the sprint, but could manage only 15th place on the grid, and said over the radio that he had “almost lost the car” in Turns Seven and 10.

Alonso said the team had “changed everything” on the car after the sprint race “and we are still fundamentally in the same place - so it's not a problem of set-up, it is a problem of lack of pace”.