Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Everyone is behaving themselves at the point, the gaps are all around about just under a second in the mid-pack. They are all close enough to challenge but no one is really making the moves, it's kind of like everyone is waiting to see what the degradation is like on these medium tyres.

1. Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

Image source, Getty Images

The purple stopwatch switches from Max Verstappen over to Lando Norris as the McLaren man pulls two seconds out on his rival.

Charles Leclerc is on the radio to Ferrari and thinks he's picked up a bit of debris on track. The Monegasque driver is in eighth place, with the Williams of Franco Colapinto nipping at his heels.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Lando Norris leads by 1.6 seconds but Max Verstappen is just taking a couple of tenths out of him on the last lap and done the fastest lap of the race.

Both those two drivers are pulling away now from the two Mercedes'.

Image source, Getty Images

Lenny Kravitz is watching on from the Ferrari garage and in those leather pants, he must be sweating. The fastest lap goes to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen as the three-time world champion follows the McLaren of title rival Lando Norris out in front.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I think Nico Hulkenberg knows that his fight is not with Oscar Piastri, his fight is trying to keep Fernando Alonso at bay.

Race leader Lando Norris is holding a 1.5-second gap to Max Verstappen as he chases a third victory of the season and the chance to cut that championship deficit even further.

Alex Albon's start was not as clean as his team-mate Franco Colapinto and now the Williams man has to make up ground down from P15.

A replay of the race start shows us Albon was not happy with Colapinto's move as Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz found themselves in a tussle, saying the 21-year-old's lunge was ambitious, to say the least.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We could be in for a great fight this evening between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

They are already gapping the two Mercedes' cars, 2.6 seconds back is Lewis Hamilton from Lando Norris already.

I think this could be a two-horse fight.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez has climbed through the pack to get his car in the points in 10th position.

Over at Mercedes, with George Russell on the medium tyres, he comes on the team radio to say Lewis Hamilton needs to pick up the pace a bit on his softs, as the front two are peeling away.

Image source, Getty Images

JJ Jackson: Just seen MCL Singapore livery...hints of the Marlboro McLaren days

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Lando Norris can (sort of) relax after his opening-lap curse has now been lifted. The McLaren leads the Red Bull driver by 1.2 seconds, with Lewis Hamilton and his soft tyre holding firm in third place.

Carlos Sainz has dropped down the order and is now running in P12 after a scrappy first lap, while Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc has gained a spot to P8.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Alex Albon has had a bad start, he finds himself down in 15th, contrasting fortunes on that one for the Williams drivers.

As the opening lap continues, the top three remains intact with Lando Norris leading Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Oscar Piastri found himself under pressure from the Haas of Nico Hullkenberg and lost position to the German Haas driver. But the Australian is back in his P5 starting slot.

Franco Colapinto has made gains and the Argentine has lifted his Williams up to P9!

Lando Norris makes a confident start off the line and is ahead of Max Verstappen!

Image source, Reuters

Lando Norris versus Max Verstappen.

Ding Ding! Round one.

Stay hydrated everyone.

Image source, Getty Images

Rosanna Tennant
5 Live F1 reporter in Singapore

McLaren CEO Zak Brown spoke to Rosanna Tennant on the grid, he said: "We want to get Oscar up here as well, he's faster than in qualifying. Lando has been on fire all weekend.

"We got two good race cars so as long as it's a clean race, it should be a good race for us."

The top 10 are all starting on the medium tyres, except for Lewis Hamilton in P3, who has opted for the soft compound - a split in strategy over at Mercedes.

A reminder also there are now four DRS zones for this year's race, with the extra boost added between Turns 14 and 16.

Sam Bird
Formula E driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

We watched a clip of Max Verstappen doing a practice start out of the pit-lane and it didn't look very good. The rear of the car was bucking and bouncing around underneath him.

I'm not sure whether they've got that start procedure nailed down ready for this Grand Prix.

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Air temperature is 30.7C and the track 37.9C. Light wind from the south. Nearest showers are 40+km to the north and none are expected for this event, thus FIA official risk of rain 0%. Enjoy the race!

Image source, Getty Images