Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter in Barcelona

Everyone is starting on the soft tyre, they'll come in around lap 13, from that point onwards, what they will go into we do not know yet. The only person doing something different is Yuki Tsunoda, he starts on the medium tyre.

George Russell had initially started well and was alongside Lando Norris and Max Verstappen but he's dropping back now, with the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc passing him.

Fantastic work by max Verstappen as he gets the better of Lando Norris and he is up into second place.

Image source, Getty Images

LIGHTS OUT!

Oscar Piastri streams away and leads into Turn One.

Everyone is in position.

Here we go...

Olli Caldwell
Former F2, F3 and Alpine development driver on Sports Extra 2

The main thing here for the drivers to do is increase the surface temperature and the core temperature of these tyres up to there perfect operating window.

All but three of the previous 34 races here have been won by a driver on the front row, so history is on McLaren's side.

Olli Caldwell
Former F2, F3 and Alpine development driver on Sports Extra 2

Image source, PA Media

Oscar Piastri has a great shot at this, he's starting from pole and he's got the perfect line to Turn One. That's my pick for the win of this race.

Away they go on the formation lap.

Yuki Tsunoda is starting from the pit lane on mediums.

Tyre covers are off and everyone has gone for softs with the majority of the top 10 on a used set of softs. The only ones on fresh softs are the two McLarens...

Right then, almost time for lights out in round nine of the season.

It is a long run down to Turn One so getting a good start will be crucial.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 29.4C and the track temperature is 49.6C. Wind from the south south-east-south east, gusts to 17mph in the past hour. Dry, with high cloud increasing this afternoon. FIA official risk of rain is 10% for this event.

A nicely done rendition of the national anthem played on Spanish guitars. Quite a contrast though as Sweet Caroline is then played out immediately after.

Gabriel Bortoleto starts in P12 for Sauber, he told Sky Sports: "I'm looking forward to it. We had a very positive qualifying, obviously there are some cars around that have a little bit better pace than us because their team-mates are a bit ahead.

"I'm going to give my best, look forward and try to save the tyres and have a good race."

Members of the England football team are milling about on the grid now as drivers make their way to line up for the national anthem.

Image source, PA Media

Williams' Carlos Sainz, who starts in P17, said before his home race: "This weekend has been tough for the team and we knew this track was never going to be our favourite one.

"It doesn't mean that we can't go for it in the race and try and make it back to the points.

"I strongly believe our race will be a lot better than our qualifying so that means we might be up for a fun race.

"I don't know if I can get up to the top 10 but I will give it my all to see if we can recover as many positions and some good overtakes."

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who will start in 10th: "Yesterday was a good lap and I'm happy with the whole weekend to see all the fans and support. Let's try to have a good race and score the first points of the year.

"I think [the fans] give you that extra motivation. Since FP1 we've been driving at the maximum and trying to do perfect laps. Now in the race, hopefully they enjoy. We will try to be aggressive and try to attack."

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Barcelona

Image source, Pirelli 2025

The Spanish Grand Prix will be defined by tyre degradation, which is exceptionally high at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as a result of the rough asphalt and long corners, and this weekend's heat makes it worse.

The teams drive to a temperature ceiling of the tyres, beyond which they can’t go or the tyres lose performance rapidly. Performance is determined by how fast a car can go while staying just below that ceiling.

All three tyres could feature in the race, and the medium is expected to be the most useful. This could give an advantage to Charles Leclerc, who is the only front-runner with two new sets of mediums available. A new soft - which all the top teams except the Ferrari drivers and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli have available - is also a good tyre, although it is more prone to overheating than the medium.

McLaren are the kings of tyre degeneration, so in theory the high temperatures should play to their advantage. But with the high-speed corners at Barcelona, this track is not as favourable to them as Miami or Bahrain, for example, where they dominated.

As tyre degrade at approximately 0.1secs per lap, the under-cut strategy is a guarantee of gaining places. But at the same time, a tyre offset created by running long is pretty much a guarantee of overtaking. So balancing the two is the key.

A pit stop costs about 23 seconds, 13 under safety car.

BBC Sounds

There are a few ways you can listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary today.

From 14:00 BST, click the listen 'live tab' at the top of this page, tune in via BBC Sounds if you're heading out or you can ask your smart speaker to play BBC Radio 5 Live.

BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson has been in the Barcelona paddock all this weekend, so if you have any questions you'd like to ask for the Fan Q&A about the Spanish Grand Prix, send them through using this link.

Image source, BBC Sport