Hamilton passes Verstappen!
Lap 67/70 Hamilton is so close now, and Verstappen has nothing to help him beyond his own positioning on the track. And as they come down the straight, HAMILTON TAKES HIM OUT! VERSTAPPEN CANNOT RESPOND, AND THIS RACE IS DONE!
Lap 66/70 Hamilton is guzzling this gap now! 1.026s the gap, almost within DRS range, and Verstappen must be bricking it!
Lap 65/70 Verstappen needs to steal himself because it’s nearly time! Can he hold off Hamilton on the straights by taking up the best positions? 2.788s the gap, and this is brilliant stuff!
Lap 64/70 5.486s the gap; “Tyres are dead”, Verstappen tells his team, and Hamilton is going to do this isn’t he?!
Lap 63/70 Hamilton can’t quite see Verstappen, but he’s not far off. He’s getting nervous – you can tell by the way he’s asking his team about his bakes, who’re telling him to forget them.
Lap 62/70 Here comes Hamilton, the gap now below nine seconds, and striking distance is expected in six laps! That’ll give him two goes at taking Verstappen out, and given the speed difference between them, you’d think he’ll pull it off! What a great call that pit was!
Lap 61/70 Hamilton gets the gap below 11s for the first time and this is our full leaderboard:
- Verstappen
- Hamilton
- Leclerc
- Vettel
- Sainz
- Gasly
- Raikkonen
- Norris
- Bottas
- Perez
Lap 60/70 Hamilton is tearing into Verstappen now, his team telling him that, by the end, the Red Bull will be down to zero rubber. 11.296s the gap, and this is getting extremely lively.
Lap 59/70 Vettel is charing after Leclerc, looking to nab third, while Hamilton cuts the lead to 12.560s.
Lap 58/70 Hamilton sets a new fastest lap and brings the gap down to 14.433s. My sense is that it’ll be just enough for Verstappen because a second a lap won’t do it, but perhaps the Red Bull tyres will knacker enough so bigger chunks can be cut off.
Lap 57/70 Verstappen leads by 15.506s and is on at his team to describe the gap. He’s so conscious of how important this is, but needs to maintain the equilibrium that’s got him this far.
Lap 56/70 Horner says Verstappen has managed the race well and now has clear road to “stretch his legs”.
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Lap 55/70 Perhaps Verstappen has seen away the worst now; he’s driving better than he did through the middle part of the race and Christian Horner is looking forward to watching the denouement. He thinks Mercedes rolled the dice because they couldn’t catch his man, and wasn’t tempted to bring Verstappen in because he’d have come out behind.
Lap 54/70 Verstappen humps through a decent lap and has now cleared the track of the back markers who were giving him a fair bit of nause.
Lap 53/70 The gap’s down to 16.018s at Verstappen prepares to lap Vettel, in fourth; Ferrari have had better weekends.
Lap 52/70 Hamilton sets the fastest lap of the race so far as Grosjean is retired. That gap between 1 and 2 is reducing all the time, down to 17.057, and we’re going to see how Verstappen responds to pressure!
Lap 51/70 The lead is now 18.269 and Hamilton is lapping more than a second faster. This is going to be tight!
Hamilton, on the hunt for Verstappen. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters
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Lap 50/70 Hamilton isn’t sure he’s made the right move, while Verstappen is challenging his team too. I’d say Hamilton’s strategy looks good, because he wasn’t catching up and this new effort gives him a chance.
Lap 49/70 Hamilton pits! He comes out on fresh tyres, comes out ahead of Leclerc, and have Mercedes stolen a march on Red Bull there? He might just have the pace to close the gap, now at 20.269s, and Verstappen stays out a lap longer; if he goes in now, he’ll come out behind, so perhaps he’s just going to hang on!
Lap 47/70 Hamilton has a pace advantage down the straight, but can’t get close enough to attack. His car is quicker, but not by enough.
Lap 46/70 Hamilton comes again, cutting the gap to 1.026, but doesn’t look to quite have the pace. What we’re watching here is what we might just be watching for the next five years, because these look a class above the rest. This could be a seriously special rivalry.
Lap 45/70 1.042s the lead as we hear about braking issues for Hamilton; maybe that’s why he’s narrowing the gap, on account of using them less.
Lap 44/70 Bottas is now up to ninth, behind Norris. He’ll need to make up 11s to get that sixth place he’s after.
Lap 43/70 This has been another really fun race, and there’s plenty of time left too. We should be good for at least a couple more fights between the front two.
Lap 42/70 Verstappen’s lead is up to 1.8s and he’s told by his team that “he’s seen the best of his tyres”.
Lap 41/70 Hamilton’s told to keep the pressure on and tells his team that he can’t. Verstappen is flustered, but will have taken so much confidence from that last duel.
Lap 40/70 Hamilton needs to take a breath here because his tyres will need cleaning – he made a phenomenal effort to inch ahead and Verstappen is absolutely hating the back markers, but showed great resilience hanging in there.
Lap 39/70 Hamilton passes Ricciardo and attacks, but Verstappen shuts the door! Hamilton goes again but Verstappen holds it down; Hamilton tries to take a short cut off the track, this is wild, but can’t bring it home, losing time as the lead moves back to 1.279s! Brilliant stuff!
Lap 38/70 Hamilton’s tyres are no longer fresh but Ricciardo’s presence mithers Verstappen and the lead is down to 0.31!
Lap 37/70 If the front two finish as they currently are the gap in the overall standings will be 53 points. That’s a lot of work for Verstappen to do, but what we’re seeing is just as relevant to next year: Verstappen is coming!
Lap 36/70 Hamilton attacks with Verstappen slightly blocked, but he can’t bring it home! He goes too wide and loses some time, the lead now 1.029s.
Lap 35/70 This is excellent from Hamilton, who’s on one. The gap is down to 0.698s, and he’s trying to get it done here and now!
Lap 34/70 Hamilton wants to push while his tyres are fresh and he cheppies that gap down to 1.170s.
Lap 33/70 Bottas does Ricciardo and is up to 11th as Norris diddleds Magnussen to take ninth from him.
Lap 32/70 Why didn’t Hamilton come in first, to give himself a lead to hang onto when Verstappen followed him?
Lap 31/70 In comes Hamilton! He comes out four seconds letter, which is pretty slow, and the gap is now 5.859s – that’s a lot of work to do, though his tyres are six laps younger.
Lap 30/70 Hamilton’s left front brake is now under control. Here’s out list:
- Hamilton
- Verstappen
- Vettel
- Leclerc
- Sainz
- Raikkonen
- Hulkenberg
- Gasly
- Magnussen
- Ricciardo
- Norris
- Bottas
Lap 29/70 Current projections suggest that Hamilton will come out three seconds behind Verstappen, a second more than previously. He also has smoke knocking about his car…
Lap 28/70 In comes Leclerc as Verstappen cuts a little bit off Hamilton’s lead, and he maintains fourth place. Verstappen just holds, waiting to see when Hamilton stops.
Lap 27/70 Hamilton stays out another lap and leads by 18.560s; will he still be in front when he comes out after his pit?
Lap 26/70 In goes Verstappen! And out in 2.6s! It’s quick but not that quick, and will he comes out ahead of Leclerc in third? Yes he will!
Lap 25/70 The Ferraris are strong on the straight and both overtaking opportunities come at the end of one, so perhaps the leaders are waiting for them to come in before going in themselves.
Lap 24/70 Hamilton takes four tenths out of Verstappen, the gap now 1.064. “I’ve gotta say, I’m losing grip,” Verstappen tells his team. “And we have understood, Max,” comes back the perfunctory reply. Both cars lap Perez, in 14th, but Hamilton does it quicker.
Lap 23/70 No, Hamilton does not pit! Perhaps they’re keeping him out another lap – well they are – but why isn’t quite clear. Well it is, because he’d have come out behind Vettel and in fifth, but what isn’t clear is why it was on the agenda to begin ith.
Lap 21/70 If Verstappen needs to put to change tyres and Hamilton has grip and time, he might just work out a lead that will last him through his own pit. Verstapen won’t want to go in and come out outside both Ferraris, which sit third and fourth.
Lap 20/70 And still! This is working out extremely poorly for Bottas, who needs a path through the field, while Hamilton cuts the gap on Verstappen to 1.283s! Verstappen is starting to lose grip, both actually and metaphorically!
Lap 18/70 Hamilton schleps half a second off Verstappen, the lead now 1.715s as Kviyat does a brilliant job attacking Albon in 12th; they duel for three corners before Kviyat storms through!
Lap 17/70 So our leaderboard reads:
- Verstappen
- Hamilton
- Leclerc
- Vettel
- Sainz
- Norris
- Raikkonen
- Gasly
- Grosjean
- Hulkonen
- Perez
- Albon
Verstappen, still clear of Hamilton. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images
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Lap 16/70 Bottas takes out Russell to make 16th place, and will fancy himself to do something still. He’s got no chance of passing Vettel, who’s currently in fourth, but he might well haul himself up to fifth, 20-odd seconds the difference between those two places.
Lap 15/70 Christian Horner was relieved to see Verstappen get away in front, and now he hopes he’ll hang into the lead. More news as I get it.
Lap 14/70 Hamilton trails Verstappen by 2.306 now, and I reckon he needs to go in first so that when Verstappen pits, he’ll have a lead to defend.
Lap 13/70 Verstappen is driving his Red Bull really smartly here, maintaining his lead without hammering his car into the ground.
Lap 12/70 Verstappen and Hamilton streak away, but it’s pretty tight everywhere else, with 20 seconds separating Sainz in fifth from Giovinazzi in 18th.
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Lap 11/70 In 16th place, Ricciardo is gliding pleasantly, passing Stroll. Next in his sight: Kevin Magnussen.