Australian Grand Prix LIVE: Lap-by-lap updates from year’s first race

Piastri crashed, Hulkenberg never made it out of the garage, Hadjar stopped on the track with a technical problem, as did Bottas, and Alonso was retired due to Aston Martin’s well publicised struggles.

Russell is now close enough to Hamilton that you can see the gap withering on every TV angle.

There’s graining on Hamilton’s front tyres and you’d have to expect he’ll be in soon, leaving Russell – now on the hards – with a clear track to help the Merc stretch its legs.

Antonelli is 12 seconds behind Leclerc… then Lando Norris is 25 seconds off the lead in fifth, with Max Verstappen 29 seconds off the lead.

Leclerc pits for hard tyres and rejoins in fourth.

Russell is now 4.7 seconds off Leclerc and should catch him within the next four or five laps at this rate.

1. Leclerc

2. Hamilton

3. Russell

4. Antonelli

5. Norris

6. Verstappen

The Briton is eating into the Ferraris’ lead at a huge rate, now just 6.2 seconds behind leader Leclerc.

Hamilton has just told the team not to pit him at the same time as Leclerc because his tyres are OK.

Meanwhile, Russell keeps eating away, now 5.5 seconds adrift.

His Cadillac is parked on the grass just after turn two.

Martin Brundle sees this as a win for Ferrari as long as the pit entrance isn’t closed, as they gambled and waited longer for their pit stops compared to Mercedes.

Verstappen, Lindblad, Bearman, Bortoletto have all pitted now, only the Ferraris haven’t come in.

And they’ve lost this chance to do so – the pit entry/exit is now closed.

The wisdom after qualifying was that Mercedes would clear out to a huge and insurmountable lead not just due to their one-lap pace, but what they showed in long stints too.

That hasn’t come to pass thanks to Leclerc’s brilliant start – but he’s also been able to fend off Russell despite being at a large power disadvantage.

The Ferrari is great in the corners and the deployment from the Prancing Horse has been working well so far, in contrast to how it went for the Italian team in qualifying.

The virtual safety car has gone, and both Mercedes have pitted now.

Hamilton sounds angry as he asks Ferrari why Russell is only 10 seconds behind him.

It’s the third lap under the virtual safety car. Fernando Alonso has retired from the race.

Aston flagged on Thursday that they wouldn’t be able to finish as vibrations from their Honda power unit could leave the drivers with permanent nerve damage after as few as 15 laps.

1. Leclerc

2. Russell

3. Hamilton

4. Antonelli

5. Lindblad

6. Verstappen

The Red Bull has stopped on the track, looks like it lost power.

Lando Norris is told to pit as soon as that news comes through.

And Verstappen fans, your man has gone from 19th on the grid to sixth.

He’s told the Mercedes pit that his front left is an issue with what is probably a flat spot. Will he have to come in? He’s lost a bit of ground to the Ferrari.