Lap 54/71 Russell, now third, has Hadjar looking to attack, the gap 0.2s, and he’s beaten on the inside; meantime, Antonelli comes in and Norris oozes past. He’ll take some stoping from here.

Lap 53/71 Norris is taking half a second a lap out of Antonelli, the gap down to 4.7s; Verstappen is a further 7.4s behind.

Lap 52/71 Piastri pits, while Norris closes the gap on Antonelli, now 6.1s. He’s moving nicely.

Lap 51/71 Now Hadjar pits and, when he comes out, Russell goes by. Norris is now up into second, 7.7s behind Antonelli, who’ll have to pit shortly.

Lap 50/71 Norris pits so Hadjar leads from Antonelli … and Norris rejoins the race in fourth. He’ll need a couple of lap for his tyres to get warm, whereupon the race will be decided; who’s quicker, him or Verstappen?

Lap 49/71 Verstappen sets a fastest lap and is driving at 1.4s faster than Norris. It’s 81s to Piastri in fourth, but he’ll surely come in soon.

Lap 48/71 Norris has already put a second on his lead over Hadjar, but it’s just started raining; might Verstappen’s cross prove to be well-timed, his tyres nice, fresh and warm?

Lap 47/71 Verstappen emerges fifth, the gap from Norris to Hadjar 12.8s. I imagine we’ll see the leader in shortly.

Lap 46/71 Yup, in comes Verstappen, the lead now 12.4s, while Russell, who’s been threatening it for a while, finally takes out Lawson around the outside to move sixth.

Lap 45/71 Gosh, Norris is flying, now 11.2s ahead of Verstappen; I doubt he’ll come in before Red Bull, who need to force the issue.

Lap 44/71 Let’s run down the leaderboard:

1 Norris

2 Verstappen

3 Hadjar

4 Antonelli

5 Piastri

6 Lawson

7 Russell

8 Hulkenberg

9 Lindlblad

10 Leclerc

11 Alonso

12 Hamilton

Lap 43/71 Told that Norris is thinking about going to the end without aa pit, Verstapen is emphatic in his refusal. I wonder if was a ruse from the leader to try and force his pursuer to make a bad call.

Lap 42/71 Russell is now 2.8s behind Lawson, while Albon, 12th, is given a 10-second penalty for re-entering the race unsafely after a pit. Norris leads by 10.8s.

Lap 41/71 Norris continues building his lead, while Russell sets another fastest lap. Hamilton, though, is behind Norris, lapped when pitting, but he must just have the pace to unlap himself.

Lap 40/71 Russell sets a fastest lap, but it’s roughly four seconds to Lawson in sixth; rather than close the gap to Norris, Verstappen sees him extend it to 10.0s.

Lap 39/71 Just when we think Hamilton is going at Hulkenberg, he pits, Norris now leading by 9.4s.

Lap 38/71 Other hand, if it rains, Verstappen has a chance of catching him, and Hadjar is told by the team to move over, his dream of a first P2 dashed by orders.

Lap 37/71 Hamilton has hit a groove, just 0.3 behind Hulkenberg in eighth – the gap was once eight seconds. Norris now leads by 8.8s, and he’s moving towards victory, provided he can avoid disaster.

Lap 36/71 Alonso has a hole in his nose-tip following a clash with Bearman at the start, but he’s doing alright for now; Norris’ lead is up to 7.7s.

Lap 35/71 Norris is making this looks easy, the lead up to 7.4s, while Verstappen has found a bit more pace, just 1.0s behind Hadjar. Onsalaught incoming…

Lap 34/71 Alonso goes wide, off the track … and back ahead of Albon, into 11th; Norris now leads by 7s.

Lap 33/71 Things seem to have stabilised a little, Norris extending his lead, Hadjar unable to make an impression, just as Verstappen can’t on him. It’s then a full eight seconds to Antonelli in fourth.

Lap 32/71 Stroll, 20th, is into the pit … and once again, his Aston won’t get him home, their 21st DNF of the season. Norris, meantime, extends his lead to 5.2s; Hadjar can’t get close to him currently.

Lap 31/71 Verstappen has a problem with his downward force, so can’t get at his teammate Hadjar, 46s behind Norris and 3.5s ahead of him.

Lap 30/71 Russell tries Hulkenberg on the outside and around a corner, where he’s got more speed – on the straight, he’s not finding it as easy. And past he goes, taking seventh place.

Lap 29/71 Hamilton again goes at Lindblad and he’s past into ninth while, at the front, Norris is building a lead, 4.9s in front.

Lap 28/71 Russell, 0.3s off Hulkenberg, can’t force his way past and into seventh, but it surely won’t be long – wily though Hulkenberg is.

Lap 27/71 Now Hamilton moves back past Albon to reclaim 10th, while Leclerc has no rear-tryre temperature. He’s 14th.

Lap 26/71 Norris now leads by 3.4s, with Verstappen a further 4.6s behind second-placed Hadjar. It’s then 4.6s more to Antonelli, and then 10.5 to Piastri in fifth.

Lap 25/71 Also struggling is Hamilton, dropping further behind Lindblad, who has a go at Albon … and moves by into ninth! Antonelli, told to reset, says he can’t turn on the left corners, but his team can’t find anything amiss in the data.

Lap 24/71 Norris enjoys the clean air in front of him, moving 3.2 ahead of Hadjar while Verstappen attacks Antonelli … and breezes by! The champ is really struggling to control his car.

Lap 23/71 Let’s run down the leaderboard:

1 Norris

2 Hadjar

3 Antonelli

4 Verstappen

5 Lawson

6 Piastri

7 Hulkenberg

8 Russell

9 Albon

10 Lindblad

11 Hamilton

Lap 22/71 Hadjar has never finished higher than third, but it’s Verstappen running fastest; he sets a fastest lap and is just a second off Antonelli.

Lap 21/71 Antonelli is in all sorts whereas Hadjar is in flow … and he too gets past. Looking at a recording of the spin, he’s got nae grip, and Verstappen can see him now; good luck, old mate.

Lap 19/71 Norris, with tyres a lap warmer than Antonelli, cuts the leads to 0.483s. Can he get while the going’s good? Not thus far.

Lap 18/71 Now Antonelli pits but will he come out ahead of Norris? Yes he will, the lad down to two 1.1s. This is a different race now.

Lap 17/71 The other teams will have noticed Hamilton’s pace there, and a slew of stops ensure, Norris, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson Piastri and Hulkenberg all go in … with Russell spinning! He almost nails his wing, but loses time, coming out 10th.

Lap 16/71 In 13th, Alonso is giving Leclerc plenty, then he moves up a spot when Albon pits. Hamilton, meantime, is moving much more smoothly now, setting the fastest time for the final sector.

Lap 15/71 Norris closes the gap behind Antonelli to 6.9s, then Hamilton, who’s wanted to pit for several laps, is ordered in; he goes to softs and comes out last … oh but Sainz is in there too. Bottas, by the way, is out of the race.

Lap 14/71 We’re getting towards the first round of stops; will anyone try slicks from here until the end? There’s a fair bit of shpritz kicking up, but the lack of grip might be a problem.

Lap 13/71 The top seven are well clear now, Hulkenberg 7.3s behind Piastri in seventh. Antonelli now leads Norris by 8.2s.

Lap 12/71 Antonelli has stepped on it, now 8.0s in front of Norris – he’s been serene away from the drama. Russell is third, Hadjar fourth, Verstappen fifth; I quite fancy him for a podium here, he’s attacking this race like a madman.

Lap 11/71 Hadjar looked up for this from the start and he blitzes Lawson down the inside, moving into fourth; Verstappen goes past too.

Lap 10/71 The two Ferraris dogfight, Hamilton on the inside, Leclerc on the right … and it’s Hamilton struggling, easily passed. His car isn’t doing what he wants, I don’t think, because that was too easy given how brilliant a driver he is.

Lap 9/71 Piastri thinks Hulkenberg leaves him the inside, attacks … and past he goes. Antonelli leads by 4.7s.

Lap 8/71 And now Russell passes Lawson, moving into fourth, while Versatappen passes Hulkenberg; Hamilton is told by his team to allow Bearman past, rather than face a 10-second penalty, so he does.

Lap 7/71 Lawson is really struggling now and Hadjar smells it, scything by and into third place. Norris, meanwhile, takes a bit of time of Antonelli, the lead now down to 4.4s.

Lap 6/71 Hamilton complains about his back tyre and is then noted for leaving the track when overtaking Bearman while, at the front, Antonelli leads by 5.3s while Lawson goes really wide, allowing Norris to get his second place back.

Lap 5/71 No further investigation against Verstappen, who celebrates by going around the outside of Piastri, and Albon is there for the taking too! The three are together, but it’s Verstappen with the pace and smarts, he moves up two places on one corner, and is flying now.

Lap 4/71 Verstappen attacks Hamilton on the inside … and he’s far too quick, floating by and into ninth, while we learn that there’ll be no further investigation of Albon, who stays seventh.

Lap 3/71 Antonelli leads by 1.2s, from Lawson, from Norris, from Hadjar, from Russell, from Hulkenberg. Meantime, Albon, seventh, is noted for being out of position at the start, so too Verstapped who’s 10th from 21st.

Lap 2/71 Mercdes can win the constructors championship today if Antonelli finishes three places above the top Ferrari but he won’t care about that now – he’ll just want to see out the race. Meantime, Russell, who started seventh, is now fifth.

Lap 1/71 Away we go and as we predicted, Antonelli passes Norris from the off and Hadjar also moves up past Hulkenberg, while Hamilton also progresses; oh and Liam Lawson also diddles Norris, moving into second!

“A lot drier than I expected,” Alonso tells his team. Let’s see how things progress, because that may mean a quieter start that isn’t quite what the teams planned.

Our formation lap is under way; all our drivers are on inters.

I’m intrigued to see how Rafael Camara goes on debut. He showed a bit of quality in qualifying, but also a fair amount of impetuousness, crashing twice and causing Leclerc agita but also making 11th on the grid. I daresay the other drivers will give him a wide berth if they can.

In the list of insane achievements by youngsters, Becker winning Wimbledon at 17 is probably my pick and the one I think we’re least likely to see again. I actually think it might be the greatest sporting achievement of my lifetime, amazing though it was to see a young Tyson clobbering grown-ups. Let me know if I’m wrong…

Hadjar prepares like he’s Kendall Roy going to a meeting. I think he’s got a pretty good chance of slipping by Hulkenberg at the start, but in the conditions, he’ll have to be careful.

Bottas has a wheel-nut stuck. They’re trying to remove it with a hammer; if they can’t, he’ll have to use the same intermediate set all race.

George Russell says yesterday was wetter but hotter. He’s not expecting conditions to dry and will be surprised to see slicks.

Anthem time…

Now it’s over to Cafu, who speaks in Portuguese; “brilliant stuff,” says Brundle, no clue what he’s been told. More news as we get it.

Neymar is also in attendance, but Martin Brundle can’t get a word out of him, so it’s over to Jean Alesi, who thinks Hamilton and Versatappen can get to the front. We shall see.

Jesse Lingard, now or Corinthians, is at the race. “I’ve got many friends,” he says, when not asked, but is backing Red Bull having been invited on their account.

Just when you think they’ve milked the joke to its death.

Antonelli does, I think, have a decent short of getting by Norris at the start. His ability to pick lines, alongside the pace of the car, are pretty hard to contain.

We’ve got dancers in the main straight, rain coming down. I’d not be shocked if we see some incidents today – let’s hope everyone stays safe.

Oy my days! It’s raining now and Antonelli slides off the track as they go around to get into position! He’s able to adjust, but that’s a warning to all drivers.

That and Pulp Fiction are the only ones I’ve seen twice in the cinema on the same day. Rightly so.

On which point, if there’s been a better film this century than City of God, I’d love to know about it.

Is Brazil they greatest country in the world? Well, it’s in the top one. Should you want to learn more about it, The Edge of Democracy is excellent and on Netflix, likewise Apocalypse in the Tropics. Both are directed by Petra Costa.

Antonelli doesn’t – unusually for young sports stars – look older than his years. He’s all chuchi-faced and innocent, with a luxuriant head of hair, curls spilling out of his baseball cap. I am not envious, not one bit.

It knows how to rain in Brazil.

It’s dry now, but it may not stay that way.

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