Lap 50/55: Here comes Hamilton! He brakes very late, nearly concertina-ing Bottas into a bend, than comes after him like a bat out of hell. With DRS on his side he comes within six feet of Bottas, but there’s no obvious way past. Alonso, in ninth, is in the midst of it and scampers to get out of the way, but still Hamilton cannot get past.
Lap 49/55: Gasly is complaining about vibrations in his tyres, so Sauber have told Ericsson to have a crack at him. Gasly is in 16th, Ericsson 17th. So, fine, enjoy yourselves lads, it’s not going to make much difference.
Lap 48/55: Hamilton has steeled himself again and is taking time out of Bottas once more. Is this one last attempt to get past? It feels like a futile effort, but he may as well have a crack – he doesn’t have anything to lose.
Lap 45/55: With 10 laps to go, here’s how it stands. Aside from Alonso and Massa, and Ricciardo’s retirement, the top 10 are in the same order they started in. It’s not been a classic.
1. Bottas (Mercedes)
2. Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Vettel (Ferrari)
4. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5. Verstappen (Red Bull)
6. Hulkenberg (Renault)
7. Perez (Force India)
8. Ocon (Force India)
9. Alonso (McLaren)
10. Massa (Williams)
11. Grosjean (Haas)
12. Vandoorne (McLaren)
13. Magnussen (Haas)
14. Wehrlein (Sauber)
15. Hartley (Toro Roso)
16. Gasly (Toro Rosso)
17. Ericsson (Sauber)
18. Stroll (Williams)
Ret: Ricciardo, Sainz
Lap 44/55: Hulkenberg, in splendid isolation in sixth, is just cruising along. Basically, if he can keep the car on the road here, he’ll earn Renault sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Lap 43/55: Bottas is hitting back at Hamilton – he has just set two fastest laps in a row, sending a message to the man in second position that he may as well get used to being stuck there.
Lap 42/55: It’s all happening down in 14th, 15th, and 16th, with Magnussen having to hold off Wehrlein and Hartly. It’s been said before, but if the best action in the race is for 14th position, your track isn’t very good.
Lap 41/55: Verstappen bobs and weaves down the home straight – is he trying to get heat in his tyres at this stage? Or perhaps he’s trying to clean off some dust after going a bit wide on an earlier turn?
Lap 41/55: Aside from the top two, the only other battle up top is between Verstappen and Raikkonen. The Red Bull driver is 1.1sec behind the Ferrari but is on older tyres. Raikkonen appears happy enough to just be holding off Verstappen for the benefit of Vettel, 12 seconds up the road.
Lap 38/55: Hamilton is beginning to look frustrated at not being able to get past Bottas now, wheelspinning and having to employ some opposite lock as he piles on the juice while coming out of a corner. He still delivers a fastest lap with it, keeping the pressure on Bottas. It’s perhaps a sign of how much he wants to carry some momentum into the off season.
Lap 38/55: Gasly goes for a lovely Sunday drive around the outskirts of the marina, not allowing the strict edicts of the track to hamper his freestyle jazz definition of where he should be driving. Lovely stuff.
Lap 36/55: Down at the back end of the race, Ericsson leaves Stroll for dead as he goes past him. Perhaps an issue with Stroll’s car. He’s pitted twice already and is saying the car is un-driveable.
Lap 35/55: Hamilton chips another six tenths of a second out of Bottas’s lead and looks like he was getting ready for another crack at him. He appears to get himself into play, has a go for a couple of laps, then drops off and allows his engine to recover.
Lap 34/55: So Sainz’s retirement means Hulkenberg is up to sixth, Perez in seventh, Ocon in eighth, followed by Alonso and Massa in that order.
Lap 32/55: What’s happened here? Sainz slides off the track, and parks his car on the grass. “One tyre is off,” he says. He had pitted moments ago and, even as he was driving down the pit lane, it was obvious it was wobbling and he nearly lost control there. He could have baled out in the pit lane, but would have blocked the tunnel, instead, he headed out onto the track and parked on the grass. Could be a fine for Renault for letting him out onto the track with his car in that state.
Lap 31/55: Hamilton is still lapping faster than Bottas – by two tenths of a second – and the pair have a gap of 13 seconds between them and Vettel in third.
Lap 30/55: Top 10 as Hamilton starts beginning to engage Bottas in a proper battle.
1. Bottas (Mercedes)
2. Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Vettel (Ferrari)
4. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5. Verstappen (Red Bull)
6. Ocon (Force India)
7. Sainz Jr (Renault)
8. Hulkenberg (Renault)
9. Perez (Force India)
10. Grosjean (Haas)
Bottas, back as leader after pitting. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP
Lap 29/55: Hamilton wants this. The two Mercedes are running into back markers and the British driver is hoping that might confuse Bottas. He’s far later on the brakes than Bottas, and seems utterly focused. If he can get alongside Bottas, he’ll go past – but if he pushes too hard, he’ll go off.
Lap 27/55: Hamilton is screaming around the track, lapping seven tenths faster than Bottas ahead of him. Vettel? Not so much:
Lap 26/55: “I dispute Hamilton’s claim to not have learned anything from any teammate but Alonso,” emails James Chambers. “It seems that he might have learned something from Rosberg after all. His mature, quiet, perseverance since the break, has led to five first place finishes and the championship. Very reminiscent of Rosberg’s ice cold laser focus to close out the 2016 F1 Championship.”
Lap 25/55: It was close but Bottas gets out in front of his team-mate. Actually, it was not that close – Hamilton is 2.19 sec behind Bottas. So Bottas leads again, Hamilton second, Vettel third, Ricciardo is out, leaving Raikkonen in fourth and Verstappen in fifth.
Lap 25/55: Hamilton has got bogged down behind back markers, so Mercedes pit him. Let’s see if he can get out in front of of Bottas.
Lap 24/55: Alonso finally goes past Massa, the man he has been fighting all race. A lovely overtake sees him into 11th, with Massa unable to fight back in his final race.
Lap 23: Hamilton has a lead of 19.6 seconds. Pitting costs about 21 seconds, so if he can get the hammer down, he can engineer a lead here.
Lap 23: So Hamilton now leads with Bottas pitting. The top 10 looks like this:
1. Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Bottas (Mercedes)
3. Vettel (Ferrari)
4. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5. Verstappen (Red Bull)
6. Ocon (Force India)
7. Massa (Williams)
8. Sainz Jr (Renault)
9. Hulkenberg (Renault)
10. Grosjean (Haas)
Hamilton leads. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images
Lap 22: Ricciardo is out! He touched a wall, got a puncture, and now has a hydraulic issue. It’s another slice of bad luck for the likeable Australian! Bottas comes in for a tyre change.
Lap 20: Ricciardo pits at the last minute, thinking he might have a puncture. The crew scramble to be ready for him, and make a hair of their teeth stop. He comes back out in fourth, not losing a position.
Lap 18: Hulkenberg comes in for his five second penalty and a pit stop – but his crew mess up the tyre change. Will justice be served and will he come out behind Perez? No. Gah.
Lap 17: Gasly has an enjoyable little spin in Sector 3, losing position to his team-mate Hartly.
Lap 16: But not for long! Verstappen wriggles past Ocon brilliantly, then holds him off as he is attacked back. Hamilton, meanwhile, has told his crew to stop the chatter on the team radio – a suggestion of stress up front?
Lap 16: There’s a bit of a scrap between Alonso in 11th and Massa in 10th, with the Brazilian holding off the Spaniard masterfully. Raikkonen comes into the pits now, aiming to come back out in front of Verstappen … he skids in the pit lane … and still manages it! He’s out in seventh, Ocon is in eighth and Verstappen, furious, is in ninth.
Formula 1
