The Mercedes driver looks to be out of the race. His car is on fire!
Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Gasly, Sainz, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Norris, Tsunoda, Piastri, Ocon, Perez, Zhou, Magnussen, Sargeant, Bottas and de Vries.
Russell is OUT of the race.
Pit lane entry is closed.
Alonso is now right behind Hamilton in the battle for second - 0.6s between the former teammates.
No penalty for Hamilton at the restart for falling too far back.
He's up to sixth now in the Ferrari, overtaking Stroll into Turn 3.
He's now 2.5s clear of Hamilton at the front of the field.
Russell gets past Gasly for fourth.
Making the most of DRS, Verstappen overtakes Hamilton.
Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, Gasly, Russell, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Zhou, Ocon, Magnussen, Sargeant, Perez, de Vries and Bottas.
Hamilton leads into Turn 1 ahead of Verstappen and Alonso.
Here we go!
“Is this more than 10 car lengths? Check it.”
Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, Stroll, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, de Vries, Ocon, Perez, Zhou, Bottas, Sargeant and Magnussen.
Hards for everyone except de Vries and Sargeant.
The FIA have announced there will be another standing start when the race gets underway.
Toto Wolff: "Sorry George that screwed us but let’s do the most out of it, we can still go to the front of the podium or better."
George Russell: "Not your fault guys. It was a good call."
Word from the FIA... restart very soon.
"Sorry George, that's screwed us."
Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, Stroll, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris, Piastri, Sainz, de Vries, Ocon, Zhou, Bottas, Sargeant and Magnussen.
OUT: Albon, Leclerc.
The race has been halted!
"This has put me at a massive disadvantage."
LAP 7/58
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
ALEX ALBON IS OUT OF THE RACE!
It's all over for the Williams Racing driver at Turn 7 #AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/3oGMyiovrX
Russell and Sainz pit for fresh rubber.
The Mercedes driver rejoins in seventh overall. Sainz in 11th.
Albon is out of the race!
Hamilton has a lot at Russell but he can't get close enough.
The seven-time champion is now under pressure from Verstappen.
Russell is 0.6s ahead of Hamilton, who is 0.6s ahead of Verstappen.
DRS will be active very soon.