Nico Hulkenberg needs to stay alert as he has the Alpha Tauri of Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo breathing down his neck.

Don't go gung-ho, Carlos, is the advice from his Ferrari pit wall. Esteban Ocon is next to box and a two-second stop brings him out in front of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in 13th place.

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Sainz: "Be patient, pace is good."

A pit-lane start has evolved into P11 for Charles Leclerc as he tries to salvage some points from a difficult weekend.

Marc Priestley
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

On some cars we are seeing higher than expected degradation. That is two or three now coming in and changing to from soft to hard. Is that going to start affecting people in the same way?

Does it even matter for Verstappen, but certainy for Perez he is in a battle now in a faster car but can he manage that medium tyre that no-one really liked over the course of Friday.

What will teams be thinking about strategy now? Nico Hulkenberg has been into the pits for a changeover and has switched from the soft tyres to the yellow mediums. The German Haas driver is down in 14th place.

George Russell has the bit between his teeth now. The Mercedes fancies picking off the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, who scored a podium in Monaco a week ago. Russell keeps his cool and breezes on by the Frenchman. P5 for Russell now.

Engineer: "We'll stick to plan A."

Sainz: "Yeah I'm happy, I have pace in hand."

No further action for Mercedes' George Russell for his trip wide of the track in the opening exchanges. On you go with your race.

Zhou is next in to the pits for a tyre change.

Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly, who got caught up in the melee on the first lap and dropped down the order, is now up to 12th after another overtake.

Marc Priestley
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

If the strategy falls the way Pirelli expect it to we expect the first round of pit stops around 13, 14 except for Verstappen and Perez.

The Red Bulls on the medium tyre should be able to run a little longer and if they can make that tyre work, it just opens up the strategic options.

To be honest the car is so fast they can do just about anything in the hands of Verstappen.

This is not what Fernando Alonso wanted. The Spaniard is being hunted down by Zhou Guanyu in the Alfa Romeo. But Zhou needs to be careful because he is in danger of being picked off by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

Zhou loses his spot. Perez is now eighth with his rival for second in the title fight just ahead of him in seventh.

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Nulla Pax: One of the things I was looking forward to today was how well Lando could fight

Lance Stroll's time in the podium places has come to a temporary end as Lewis Hamilton charges through on the Aston Martin driver and slots into third place.

Out in front, Max Verstappen is four seconds clear of Carlos Sainz in second.

Fernando Alonso is running in seventh place after being taking of his sixth spot by the Mercedes of George Russell. Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, has managed to shift hod Ferrari up into 16th place with a little shimmy passed Alex Albon's Williams.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

3. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

5. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

Image source, Getty Images

Marc Priestley
F1 commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

One of the reasons George Russell catapulted himself up - he went off on the escape road, and gained some places as everyone bunched up on turn two.

He is now in trouble - the stewards are taking a look at that.

No drama on lap four and as we reach lap five Max Verstappen hold a two-second lead of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Looks like George Russell is in trouble for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Replays show Lewis Hamilton and Lando touched at Turn Two, with the McLaren's front wing endplate flying off into the air.

Carlos Sainz was in the slipstream of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen but the Spaniard needed to back off as Turn One approached. He didn't want to ruin his race with a reckless move.

Lewis Hamilton is vulnerable and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin has taken advantage. The Canadian has swiped third spot away from the seven-time world champion.

DRS is enabled.

Image source, Getty Images

A new front wing for Lando Norris and some hard tyres from his trip to the pits. That wasn't the best stop and the Briton has lost a load of time after that opening-lap collision.