“He pushed me off the track. I was ahead at the apex. He pushed me off.”
Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Norris, Magnussen, Piastri, de Vries, Ocon, Zhou, Bottas, Perez and Sargeant.
Ocon down are on hards and will go to the end.
Ocon, Zhou, Sargeant, Perez and Bottas have all stopped - they probably can go to the end.
Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Sainz, Alonso, Albon, Stroll, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Norris, Magnussen, Piastri, de Vries, Ocon, Zhou, Sargeant, Perez and Bottas.
Leclerc is out of the race! He's in the gravel trap at Turn 3.
Russell leads into Turn 1 ahead of Verstappen.
Hamilton up to second past the reigning world champion!
The Australian Grand Prix is underway.
Verstappen lines up on his grid slot. We're moments away from the start.
It's formation lap time!
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023
WHO'S READY (and awake)?! #AusGP#F1pic.twitter.com/qHhECEiqFm
Verstappen leads the pack away on the formation lap at Albert Park.
Starting on softs: Gasly, Ocon, Zhou, Bottas
Starting on hards: De Vries, Sargeant, Perez
Everyone else on mediums
Zero per cent according to the FIA.
"We really think it will be a hard race. Overtaking is difficult here, and degradation will be love, but we are going to give it everything here to the last lap."
"The race is more in our review mirrors then looking at the front. The car feels different now, and it's a lot warmer. Some drivers have said it feels a lot better today with the conditions."
Just 15 minutes to go now until lights out - it's time for the Australian national anthem.
"What I always tell him is that he has to love the car. I think soon he [Lewis] will love the car."
Perez and Bottas will start from the pit lane after both of their teams made changes overnight in parc ferme.
The Mexican struggled throughout FP3 and qualifying with his brakes, perhaps related to the engine, thus Red Bull have given him a raft of new components.
Hello everyone and welcome to Crash.net's live blog for Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix.
We're just over 30 minutes away from the start of the race at Albert Park.