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George Russell comes in for a stop but then the yellow flags are shown - Oliver Bearman has crashed! The Haas driver is off the track and now the safety car is deployed,

Kimi Antonelli has the opportunity for a free pit stop and Russell is gutted on the team radio.

Mercedes are on the phone to George Russell - it's time for the race leader to change these medium tyres to something a bit harder.

"I think I'm going to lose a lot of race time extending."

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George Russell leads from Kimi Antonelli and now the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton but Russell is sounding a but worried over the team radio about things may play out.

Lando Norris in eighth is the fastest man on track now that the hard compound is getting warmed up.

Laurance: McLaren have changed something. They are looking extremely racey. Three teams now are promising.

"It feels like I'm driving without power steering, my steering rack is heavy."

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The Mercedes have shuffled up the order because Oscar Piastri has pitted. The Australian takes on the C1 hards and rejoins the action in sixth place ahead of Charles Leclerc in seventh.

Next into the pit lane is Charles Leclerc, who also dumps his medium compound for the hard rubber. The Ferrari man is sent back out and is ahead of the McLaren Lando Norris.

Leclerc is seventh, Norris is eighth and George Russell now leads with Kimi Antonelli up to second.

Engineer: "Oscar, thought on going this early to be sure to defend against Russell. Lap 15."

Piastri: "If we think the tyres can go to the end then why not."

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The pit window is open and Lando Norris is called in by McLaren. The world champion takes on the hard tyre and comes out in the middle of the pack.

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

Things not going too well for Audi at the minute. They lost a ton of places at the start, Hulkenberg lost six place and Bortoleto lost four. They're not happy down there and they don't have Jonathan Wheatley as their team principal anymore, he left in the gap between China and this race.

Charles Leclerc asking 'is everything okay with my power?'

Charles Leclerc knew he had the power to come back at Kimi Antonelli so the Ferrari driver just waits his turn and within a few seconds, he's back into the third place.

"If we hold track position I think we can hang on to this."

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

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Max Verstappen is on about his power steering. He said his wheels feel really heavy. When you lose power steering, it is hard, the wheels go so heavy, it will be hugely physical for Max Verstappen.

Kimi Antonelli needs all the juice in his battery to get this overtake done on Charles Leclerc for third place. The podium spot is now his after reaching the overtake detection point at the final corner, but will he be under pressure when the two cars make it to Turn One?

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

George Russell's tyres look good, certainly the front left looks in better shape than Oscar Piastri's car so being able to manage that slightly better than the McLaren ahead of him.

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Polesitter Kimi Antonelli is trying desperately to unsettle Charles Leclerc for third place but the Monesgasque driver is wise to the teenager's tricks, and the move for Antonelli doesn't stick this time.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

I am impressed with the McLarens. None of their cars started last time out. Only one car started in Australia, so technically they have had data from one grand prix. For them both to be running fairly competitively, to have all this information is impressive. They're getting it right so far. For the limited amount of grand prix running, this is impressive from McLaren.

Binks: Mercedes are in a totally different postcode. God forbid they sort out their starts.

Rachel: Nice to see McLaren keeping Mercedes on their toes, with Ferrari lurking. No idea who will win this race!

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Below the fight for the podium places, Pierre Gasly has held onto his seventh place, with Max Verstappen up to eighth from P11 and Arvid Lindblad still in the points, but the Racing Bulls rookie's tyres are hurting.