Key events
Show only key events
Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Albon retires
Lap 26/61: Albon crashes! Bad mistake, straight into the wall, and it’s another VSC. And it’s an unhappy return for Albon, who re-enters the pits but his car is too damaged to continue. And then there were 16.
Lap 23/61: The virtual safety car is over and Pérez is still leading Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton and Norris. Meanwhile, Russell’s decision to swap for slicks has shown the fine line between bravery and stupidity: he’s 22 seconds behind Albon, and counting.
Updated at 15.06 BST
Lap 22/61: George Russell pits for new slicks, the first and only driver to do so. “That’s brave,” notes Verstappen.
Alonso out of the race
The Spaniard stops in his tracks. “Engine, engine!” he says as he disembarks. And we have a virtual safety car.
Updated at 15.06 BST
Lap 19/61: Imminent changes? “Tires getting smoother,” says Norris. Sainz, who has annoyed Hamilton by holding him up, reckons it’s “not too far” for the spots to come. Verstappen says it’s still too wet.
Lap 18/61: Sainz also worries about tire wear as Perez sets a faster lap. Over the radio, Norris receives the order to “make these interests last longer than everyone else’s”.
Lap 16/61: The word from the stewards is that there will be no further action on the Verstappen-Magnussen incident. Perez is concerned about his front right tire, which is wearing out quickly. And George Russell remains stuck in P16, behind Bottas.
Photograph: Caroline Chia/Reuters
Updated at 2.47pm BST
Lap 14/61: As the quarter mark approaches, Perez leads Leclerc by 1.4 seconds, with Sainz, Hamilton and Norris close behind. Behind them, Verstappen is closing in on Alonso for P6.
Lap 12/62: Stewards will review the incident between Latifi and Zhou, in which the former pressed the latter against the wall, as well as the first contact between Verstappen and Magnussen.
Lap 11/61: Neither driver opted for an extra pit stop early in the race. Now it’s safety car bye, and with a newly regrouped field, Verstappen takes up two positions, edging out Vettel and Gasly for P7.
Latifi retires
Lap 10/61: Williams mechanics run around Latifi’s car, but to no avail. The Canadian is forced to join Zhou, who is upset with him after the incident, to end the afternoon early.
Zhou withdraws
Lap 10/61: Zhou pulled to the side of the track and retired; plowed into the wall after Latifi moved past him. Latifi, in turn, has a puncture and returns to the pits. And we have a safety car.
Lap 9/61: Vettel’s pursuit of Verstappen continues in vain, for now, the German refusing to offer any way.
Lap 7/61: Pérez and Leclerc pull away from the chasing pack, six seconds apart now. The track “isn’t drying very quickly,” Lando Norris tells us.
Lap 5/61: Verstappen, who may have made contact with Magnussen at the start, passes Tsunoda for P9 and sets his sights on Vettel. This Hamilton complaint: “I told you about these tires,” he told his team. “You must listen to me in the future. No catching!”
Lap 4/61: Pérez has opened up a lead of just under a second over Leclerc. Then it’s Sainz, Hamilton and Norris. Hamilton is not happy with his tyres, apparently disagreeing with his team about them before the race – he wanted to start in full wets but was overruled.
Sergio Pérez leads from Leclerc. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Updated at 2.22pm BST
Lap 2/61: “Magnussen has a loose end plate,” Verstappen tells his team on the radio. grass Hamilton left the track after a battle with Sainz, but there will be no inquest.
Lap 1/61: Pérez took advantage of a slow breakaway from Leclerc and saw him off at the first corner. Meanwhile, at turn seven, Albon went off the track but managed to get up and continue. Verstappen has slumped to 12th after a shaky start that saw him stuck in traffic.
And let’s go! Pérez passes directly to Leclerc. Hamilton went wide on the second lap, allowing Sainz to sneak into third.
The formation lap is underway, with all cars on intermediate tyres. But when do they make the switch to slicks?
How they start:
1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 2 Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) 3 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 4 Carlos Sainz Jnr (Ferrari) 5 Fernando Alonso (Alpine) 6 Lando Norris (McLaren) 7 Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) 8 Max Verstappen (Red Bull ) )9 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 10 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 11 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 12 Mick Schumacher (Haas) 13 Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) 14 Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) 15 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 16 Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) 17 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) 18 Alexander Albon (Williams) 19 Nicholas Latifi (Williams) 20 George Russell (Mercedes)
One point of administration. I read the rulebook wrong: the three hour race window is from the new start time, ie 14:05, not 13:00.
Stuck.
Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images,
We end our movie game with a winner: David Flynn presents The Truman Show rain scene: a great scene and a perfect movie. Good afternoon, good evening and good night.
Then. T-minus 10 minutes until the formation lap.
As the national anthem plays, here’s Toto Wolff: “If you feel the slip tonight, it’s about who can stay on track at the start and who can time the safety cars.”
At the grill, Martin Brundle corners Will-i-Am and gives the inevitable “let’s get it started” crack. Wince. Next up is Pierre Gasly: ”A little standing water, but not too bad,” the driver shouts over his shoulder as he runs away from the cameras.
Some citizen journalism from the Singapore fan zone:
Whether we’ll start standing up or not has yet to be confirmed, although common sense would suggest that’s a foregone conclusion. And the treacherous conditions are known as Verstappen screams into the run-off zone after going straight into turn seven.
Gleefully making up his own rules, Ian Moore writes with some nominations of his own: “Best wet races? Germany 2018 is up there, not just for a superlative ride from Hamilton, but also for Vettel’s pantomime villain ‘crashes pantomimically in front of his crowd! Best wet lap: Senna, Donington ’93 (boring race otherwise, and Prost made 7 (SEVEN!) pit stops for tyres!!).Anyone else for more?
Meanwhile, the pit lane is open and drivers are hitting the track. Verstappen has already raced back to change his full wet-weather tires to intermediates.
Ayrton Senna and his great rival Alain Prost at the European Grand Prix at Donington in 1993. Photograph: Paul-Henri Cahier/Getty Images
Updated at 1.40pm BST
It’s not over! Steph at the Potters Bar wipes away tears to present the romantic favourite, The Notebook, in impeccable taste.
Back on F1 matters, Xan Bird, who may or may not be wiping away tears, says: “What’s the point of F1 with wet tires if we’re never going to see them used in a race? Not having wet races diminishes the experience of F1 and it means we can’t see the skills of the experts in the wet! It’s a bit ridiculous.”
Mustafa Coban comes through with a classic from the late 90’s VHS action movie market: “Hard Rain. Christian cuts it all the way through the movie. Well played sir.
“It would have to go with Jurassic Park,” says James Crowder. “Simply because it’s a T-Rex.” Good point well made.
Life finds a way. Photography: Universal/Allstar
Aiden Mcfarlane gave us: “Rush, Seven Samurai, In Cold Blood, and of course Rain Man.” Chortle.
Christian Horner says: “Today is a very different race. As a street circuit, it’s harder to overtake, but now it’s a whole different ball game with longer stopping distances. It was our mistake yesterday, hands up for that, and we’ve learned our lessons. Today it’s time for us to recover.”
Early nominations for the rain scene for The Shawshank Redemption and Singing in the Rain. Some would say “too obvious” (not me of course). In the meantime, take advantage of our standings report from yesterday:
An announcement: the starting procedure will start at 13:05, the pit lane will open 20 minutes later and the formation lap is scheduled for 14:05.
TL;DR: Turn on the kettle.
The Sky Sports team is currently living the worst fear of all broadcasters: filling the dead time. Right now we’re getting live feedback from people sweeping the water off the track, along with footage of it. For the live blogger, of course, filling the downtime is never less than a treat. So: Favorite movie scenes in the pouring rain? I nominate Blade Runner and Four Weddings.
When does heavy rain turn into a real downpour? Photography: Allstar
Updated at 1.39pm BST
Apparently we’ll get another update in 15 minutes. If we get a shortened race, points will only be awarded if the leader completes at least two laps must be completed without a safety car. And there are three possible bands of reduced points: Up to 25% of the distance would be 6 points for a victory; 25-50% means 13 points to win; and 50-75% is 19 points for the winner. After that, there are full points, which Verstappen will need to take that title today.
In half an hour, the three-hour clock, within which the race must be finished, begins to run down. Not to be confused with the two-hour clock, which starts when the race starts… and within which it must also be completed. I have it? well
Rain. a lot Photograph: Florent Gooden/Shutterstock
Updated at 12.47pm BST
Best race in the rain? We Own the Night (2007). However, today they will be none of that: as long as you throw it, the cars will remain in the garage. And the pit lane is currently flooded, so the start procedure is not even possible.
More urgently, however, he is absolutely calling it quits in Singapore, and the start of the race will be…