Bahrain Grand Prix: F1 season-opener – live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

The circuit looks great from above, lights piercing the darkness. The cars are lined up and we should be good to go.

That said, I wonder if Max might; he’ll want to think he’s the best driver, not the bloke who happens to be in the best car.

“Mercedes failure has deprived Hamilton of so much,” emails Jeff Sax. I don’t think anyone would dispute that, not even Toto.

The mechanics are checking Sharl Leclerc’s car but think it’ll be fine. They’ve also had a scare with Sainz’s car, so have changed the battery.

Norris says he’s not as high on the grid as he’d like to be, but it’s not as bad as it could’ve been. He thinks the car is better than people have been saying, but accepts that the car isn’t ideal – it’s easy to make mistakes and impossible to drive it perfectly in every lap, which is what it demands – “but we’re working on it, don’t worry”.

Anthem time.

Christian Horner tells Sky it could be a great race, and pretends he thinks it might be close. You’re fooling no one, old mate.

Rory Bremner and Jeremy Clarkson are knocking about on the circuit. That’s a relief.

Toto Wolff concedes Mercedes need a winning car and a winning driver; he knows he has to provide the former in order to secure the services of the latter.

“So, Sir Jackie, who inspired your look?”

Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Photograph: ITV/Rex Features

Lawrence Stroll reckons Lance is ready to go, saying he’s done amazingly to get himself into the car after injuring his wrist in a cycling crash a couple of weeks ago. He’s such an exciting talent, and it’s surely a matter of time before he’s in a car that can win the whole thing.

“Does anyone else get the feeling we’re reaching peak saturation with F1?” wonders Samuel Brotherwood. “The end of last season doesn’t feel that long ago and this year is even longer. If/when Verstappen wins, isn’t it just a continuation of the race that preceeded this one? We are stuck in the Marvel meta-world (or whatever it’s called).”

I don’t think the number of races is a problem, but knowing from the outset that Verstappen will win and Pérez will almost definitely come second isn’t ideal.

“Looking forward to the new season,” emails Luke Forrester. “I do feel that F1 somewhat lost its soul the day Jarno Trulli hung up his helmet, but oh well. Just as a suggestion for this year, could we maybe have the full qualifying and race results, and possibly a drivers’/constructors’ table as well? The race reports are great but they don’t always let you know where all the drivers finished; and anyway, it would be convenient to see the positions at a glance. Currently you have to find out by leaving the Guardian and visiting other sites. Anyway, let’s hope this season is a good one!”

I can only speak for myself, but I always do a full 1-20 at the end of the race, and a driver championship for as many drivers are seriously relevant to anything.

Elsewhere:

In fairness to Hamilton, he seems in good spirits. I guess when you’ve got seven world titles it’s easier to be sanguine, except if you’re capable of winning seven world titles, being sanguine is likely something you’re not. I’d love to know how his conversations with Wolff have gone.

Email! “Good, a live commentary from the Guardian!” says Anne Williams. “I phoned up Guardian customer services about an hour ago and they didn’t know whether it was going to be live or not, so know I know!”

We got you Anne – and will have for the duration of the season, so feel free to continue knowing.

Hamilton tells Sky he’s really excited, happy to be there, glad of another year to work with the team. He likes racing on the track and hopes to be battling “Fernando and the Ferraris … the Red Bulls will be long gone”. Ohhhhhh maaaaaaaan.

“We got it wrong last year, we thought we can fix it while sticking to this concept of car and it didn’t work out. So we just need to switch; we need to switch our focus on to what we believe can be the right direction and what it is we are missing.”

Oh man.

Red Bull, Red Bull, Ferrari, Ferrari. It’s hard not to look at today’s top four and wonder if it reflects what we’re going to see this term. You also have to wonder if George Russell will again finish ahead of Hamilton, who recently told Sky he’ll be sticking around until he wins that record-breaking eighth title. But imagine his mood this weekend after hearing Toto Wolff near-enough write off the season before it’s even begun.

The grid

Preamble

Aaaaaand we’re away! Happy new year people, and welcome to another season of F1 madness which starts right here – figuratively speaking, for those of us not in Bahrain – and with a rhetorical question: can anyone stop Verstappen. Or, indeed, stap Verstoppen?

Er, no, is the short answer: Red Bull’s double-champ is in poll for today’s race after another brilliant qualifying drive and looks a lock to complete a hat-trick. Partly, that reflects a driver and team in perfect synchronicity … and partly it reflects one that isn’t, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes painfully aware that the design issues which hampered them last season will continue to do so this.

It’s an almighty mess, it really is. But Verstappen – or Verstappz, as he’s presumably known in the paddock – won’t care and neither, in the end, will we. Because the point is not the destination but the journey, and though we think we know what’s going to happen over the next nine months, we also know that everything we’ve ever seen in this crazy sport tells us we don’t really have a clue nor anything approximating to one. Bring it on!

Lights out: 7pm local, 3pm GMT