Lap 37/62 Hamilton, it seems, is on a one-stop strategy, otherwise Leclerc would be ordered to let him by. The gap between them is 2.4s, with Antonelli 5.4s behind in third.

Lap 22/62 Verstappen continues building his lead, now 6.7s, while Hamilton must be hoping he can get to the end on his softs, because it doesn’t look like anyone else will pit twice. He’s flying, though; were Antonelli, in fourth, to stop now, he’d come out roughly level with the Brit.

Lap 12/62 Hamilton, they reckon in comms, is looking to go as long as he can on his mediums, so that in the closing stages, he’ll have the fastest tyres. He’s 3.2s off the lead now, which is a helluva lot to make up but, on the other hand, we mustn’t forget he’s a genius.

Lap 3/62 Russell is motoring, now up to 17th, while Bearman attacks his teammate, Ocon who started 16th and is now 11th. He gets past, then cedes the place again … then passes again! Bearman takes 11th, Ocon 12th while, at the front, the top six are pulling away – there’s 4.1s separating them, then another 2.7s to Lawson in seventh.

Qualifying

1 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:31.373
2 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:31.427
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:31.496
4 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:31.562
5 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:31.712
6 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:31.712
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:31.860
8 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 1:32.225
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 1:32.369
10 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:32.781

Q2 eliminations
11 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:32.784
12 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 1:32.908
13 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:33.323
14 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:33.526
15 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:33.658
16 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:33.787

Q1 eliminations
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:34.223
18 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:34.289
19 Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin 1:34.946
20 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:35.123
21 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:35.984
22 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull no time

Sport loves hyperbole, but sometimes, that hyperbole is true: we stand on the cusp of history. At some point soon, perhaps this month, we will bathe in the light of the F1’s youngest world champion, when Kimi Antonelli gets the 100 points he needs to lift this year’s driver championship. When you’re bousting cars around twisty tracks at 225mph, stuff can happen – and we don’t even know how many more races there’ll be this season – but even so, it’s surely coming.

Antonelli starts this race from fourth on the grid, suboptimal but for the fact that a huge penalty for taking a new power unit leaves George Russell, his closest challenger, in P21. And, though Lewis Hamilton, the only other driver still with a shot of thwarting him, goes from third, with only one race-win this season, it seems inconceivable that he suddenly hits the kind of streak that closes a 104-point gap in four or five races.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is doing his best to redeem a miserable season – in a sense, he’s already started next. His Red Bull is beginning to purr and, having first won yesterday’s sprint, he subsequently secured pole; if he gets away well, he’ll take some catching.

Lights out: 8pm local, 1pm BST