Lando Norris is informed there could be rain arriving by lap 20.

Max Verstappen is now more than two seconds ahead of Lando Norris out in front.

Meanwhile, down in 13th, Yuki Tsunoda is closing in on Pierre Gasly with the gap down to seven tenths.

Image source, Reuters

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter

Oscar Piastri will be desperate to overtake Lando Norris as cleanly as they can in Turn One potentially but remember Piastri is fourth in the standings, while Norris is leading the championship.

Max Verstappen is building up that gap from the McLarens as he now leads Lando Norris by 1.8 seconds.

Norris is going to have to think more about his team-mate Oscar Piastri just behind him.

Lewis Hamilton is on the move as he makes a DRS-assisted attack on Isack Hadjar, sweeping past the Racing Bulls driver down the inside of Turn One and Hamilton is up into seventh.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Oscar Piastri is looking particularly handy at the moment, he's faster than anybody in the first sector by at least three-tenths.

The best battle so far was between Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly with the two battling wheel-to-wheel, coming close to blows at times. Alonso is just ahead of Gasly in 11th.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

No movement at all in the top 10, everyone keeping it fairly clean.

The McLaren was also considerably stronger than the Red Bull in the middle and final sector so Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be hoping that's still true.

Kimi Antonelli runs wide at the chicane but not too much drama and he remains sixth.

Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda has gained a place as he looks to climb into the top 10, getting past Liam Lawson - the man he replaced at Red Bull - into 13th.

"My upshifts are again really bad"

There are patches of wet on the circuit and a few cars kick up a bit of spray as they make their way round.

Max Verstappen clocks the fastest lap in these early stages and it is so far so good for him.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Max Verstappen is under pressure from Lando Norris who knows he needs to desperately get past the Red Bull to give him any chance of winning this race.

The only overtake of note is Fernando Alonso getting ahead of Pierre Gasly into 11th.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is working on building up a bit of breathing space from Lando Norris. He leads by a second at the moment.

The top three are all away cleanly and maintain their positions from the start.

In fact it was a clean start throughout the grid with no collisions.

LIGHTS OUT!

Strong start by Max Verstappen and he cuts off the attack from Lando Norris into turn one.

Image source, Getty Images

Everyone is in position. All that's left is to see those lights go out...

The odd number starting positions have the drier line so there could be interesting starts for the likes of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Away go the drivers for the formation lap. The leading pack are on mediums but Lewis Hamilton, starting eighth, has opted to start on the hard compound.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

With the pace of the Red Bull in terms of the cars around Yuki Tsunoda, he should claw his way into the top 10.

It's hard to overtake here, he will have to be smart.

Andrew Priestley: McLaren’s biggest challenge to victory today is themselves. Even if Verstappen leads the race after Lap 1, they should have more than enough to reel him in and pass him. However, if the two Papaya cars should tangle…