Lap 7: A good start for Vettel has seen the Ferrari driver make up a place in getting by Ricciardo, and it's worth pointing out that he's on the medium tyres - as is Verstappen in second. With Bottas only three seconds in front of Verstappen, the Red Bull driver is looking neatly placed to challenge for lead later in the race if his strategy goes well.

End of Lap 5 standings

1. Bottas

2. Verstappen +2.3s

3. Albon +5.2s

4. Hamilton +6.0s

5. Norris +8.0s

6. Perez +8.9s

7, Leclerc +10.2s

8. Sainz +11.6s

9. Stroll +13.0s

10. Vettel +14.s

Lap 4: Norris is struggling and Hamilton gets by the McLaren on the run to Turn Three, with the Mercedes keen to stick on the tail of the two Red Bulls. Expect the front four to start to pull away, while Norris will be worried about the Racing Point of Perez behind.

Lap 2: Bottas is checking out and has a 2.5s lead over Verstappen by the start of the third lap as DRS is enabled. Crucially for Verstappen, he also has a gap on Norris - who doesn't survive long in third as Albon gets him on the run from Turn 3 to Turn 4. That's a Red Bull two-three as it stands.

Lap 1: What a first lap! Bottas gets a flying start and breaks away, but behind Verstappen and Norris go side-by-side as do Albon and Hamilton. The quartet battle through the first five corners, eventually sorting themselves out in the order that they started, but the fighting allows Leclerc to make a strong start as well as Sainz, and the two are sniffing for anything that comes their way.

LIGHTS OUT! THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX IS UNDERWAY!

**FORMATION LAP UNDERWAY**

114 days since the 2020 season was due to begin, here we go!

The grid erupts into life as the 20 cars are fired up, and the formation lap is moments away. The season starts right here.

So it seems 14 of the 20 F1 drivers elected to take a knee and show their support for fighting racism with a pre-race gesture.

But the six drivers who elected not to included Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen as revealed about 30 minutes ago, as well as Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen, Alpha Tauri's Danil Kvyat and McLaren's Carlos Sainz.

F1 may be pushing the #WeRaceAsOne slogan, but the paddock is clearly divided on that matter.

A number of drivers have now spoken out about the issue of diversity in Formula One, with Lando Norris the latest to post on Twitter. The McLaren driver, who now lines up third on the grid thanks to Hamilton's penalty, has not ondicated if he will take a knee of not, but he has defended those who choose not to. 

Confirmed: Lewis Hamilton hit with a three-place grid penalty

That has not been the only talking point this morning.

A number of drivers are set to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee before the race this afternoon. But a meeting between the 20 drivers on Friday failed to reach a unanimous agreement over such action, and as a result both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen have confirmed that they will not take a knee because of their concerns around what the BLM campaign has morphed in to.

Both have stressed they are full behind the battle to fight racial inequality, but say they will not make any gestures before today's race.

Here's proof of Mercedes setting up three places further back...

Talk about pre-race drama...

Red Bull has lodged a request for clarification with the F1 stewards to ask why Lewis Hamilton was not penalised for failing to slow down for yellow flags during qualifying. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, went off on his final run in front of Hamilton, and the reigning champion continued to set his fastest lap of the session to place second on the grid.

F1 confirmed last night that no further action would be taken against Hamilton, but it seem there has now been some sort of punishment as Mercedes are setting up on the grid in FIFTH, and not in second as he qualified.

It suggests a three-place grid penalty is about to be confirmed...

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix, the first race of the heavily-delayed 2020 Formula One season.

Seven long months since the last race of the 2019 campaign, motorsport finally resumes as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and F1 has not wasted its chance to make up for lost time.

With lights out at 2:10pm in just over an hour's time, we'll bring you all the build-up to what is set up the be an entertaining season-opener in the new setting of the coronavirus safety protocols.