Key events
Show key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Lap 33/78: Piastri finds himself a second behind Leclerc. Will he fancy a little dart at the race leader?
Sainz thinks the tyres are starting to grain across the board.
Lap 32/78: Norris almost clips the barrier but just avoids an impact. He sits in fourth, as he did when we started 90 minutes ago.
Lap 31/78: Stay tuned! We think one of the top four will have to pit before the end. Hold onto your hats, people!
Lap 30/78: TYRE CHAT WITH ANTHONY DAVIDSON. Not much is happening so we are talking graining. Stroll is slowing down and is having to maintain his mediums.
Lap 29/78: Norris: “A little bit of an abrasion.” He should be able to avoid pitting however. He has a big gap on Russell so has can pit if he feels the need to.
Lap 28/78: I suspect most of these drivers could be in a Vauxhall Corsa and still avoid being overtaken.
I wonder if anyone is inside the Monte Carlo Casino not watching, instead playing some roulette.
Lap 27/78: Ocon: “It was a big one but it was less than Budapest last year when I was pushed from the back and landed hard. I am OK but unfortunately there was too much damage to repair. I hope the team can cope.”
Lap 26/78: Ted Kravitz suggests that Verstappen should “have some fun”. I am not sure what form that could take.
Lap 25/78: There is a five-second gap between the top four.
Verstappen is down in sixth with almost no hope of winning. He must feel like he’s going through the motions. His car is not perfect for the street circuit, that’s for sure.
Lap 24/78: To pit or not to pit? That is the question. There could be some interesting decisions to be made in the latter stages.
Lap 23/78: Leclerc has decided to speed things up but Piastri is keeping pace with him. Maybe he just wanted to give the spectators something to cheer.
Lap 22/78: Russell is 12 seconds behind Norris. Is he actually going too slow?
No changes in the top six.
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 21/78: James Vowles thinks the hard tyres can make it to the end here but the medium will be “touch and go”.
Lap 20/78: Albon and Gasly is an interesting battle for ninth and tenth.
Lap 19/78: The big test for the drivers is maintaining focus for all these laps on this tight track. Focusing will be tricky in this heat.
Lap 18/78: Bottas’ tyre change has worked, allowing him to set the fastest lap of the race. Sadly for him, he is last.
Lap 17/78: The front four a in a nice convoy with around two seconds between them. No risk of overtaking.
Lap 16/78: Bottas is getting his tyres change.
No further investigation on the crash that took out Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg. Hmmmm …
Lap 15/78: Leclerc on his home track knows better than anyone how to safely navigate these corners without putting himself in danger. This is risk-free racing.
Lap 14/78: The intrigue is that Norris has opened up a gap on Russell and could earn himself a pit stop in this. Wait and see …
Very much a tactical race here. Leclerc is very much playing this game of chess like a master.
Lap 13/78: Even Sky have accepted this is dull.
Sauber are preparing a tyre change! Here we go!
Lap 12/78: I am not saying this is a bit dull but Sky have cut to drivers’ girlfriends on a couple of times.
Russell told: “We gain nothing by driving faster.” That’s not in the spirit of F1. Russell very much planning to stay on these tyres to the end.
Lap 11/78: There are lots of lovely boats in Monte Carlo. I can almost see why people have them. I once went to Monte Carlo and watched Monaco v Marseille. No cars were racing at the time.
Lap 10/78: This is all quite sedate after the early drama.
Ocon was awarded a 10-second penalty but instead will get a grid penalty for the next GP.
Lap 9/78: Verstappen is nine seconds off the lead. I suspect he will not be winning today.
Current positions:
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 8/78: Piastri has a bit of damage to his car and has lost down force. He looks to be going OK in second, aided by the pace.
Lap 7/78: Leclerc is setting the pace and keeping things pretty smooth. No one is looking to do anything silly at this stage.
Lap 6/78: Russell seems to fancy getting the best of Norris in fourth while the latter’s tyres are waiting to get up to temperature.
It is not particularly quick at the moment because the cars are fuelled up.
Lap 5/78: The front three have opened up a little gap on fourth.
Lap 4/78: Ferrari are on the hard tyres, which is good news for them.
It is all very bunched up, which is unsurprising because of the nature of the circuit.
Russell looks eager to go past Norris, which should be an interesting watch.
Lap 3/78: No one crashed on the first corner, which is a positive.
Leclerc maintains the lead once more.
We are down to 16 cars. Ocon is also out, in addition to Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg.
We have started from the third lap so we will effectively have 77.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco leads the field after the restart. Photograph: Luca Bruno/APAway we go (again)Some more racing.
We have seen a few tyres changes during this 40-minute delay.
The drivers are warming up once more.
From PA Media: “On a chaotic opening lap Carlos Sainz, who started third, went in too deep in his Ferrari at Casino Square, falling down the order, while the two Alpine drivers were also involved in a collision. Esteban Ocon passed Pierre Gasly through Portier, but in doing so made contact with his team-mate, who launched him spectacularly in the air.
“What did he do?” Gasly yelled over the radio. “Why did he attack me? Oh my gosh. The whole car has damage now.” Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the short dash to the opening corner with Lando Norris promoted to third after Sainz ran off the road.”
We will start again at 1446 BST.
We do have some options for other live sports.
Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg will not be back for the restart, that is for sure.