Ahead of today's Sprint, the air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 24 degrees. As was the case yesterday, there has been overnight rain which continued into the morning. However, it is now dry, cloudy and somewhat chilly. There is a 20% chance of rain.

Sainz and Alonso will both start from the pitlane after changes were made to their cars suspension under parc ferme conditions.

It was a difficult day for Alonso whose qualifying was hampered by a rear wing (straight-line mode) issue which meant he couldn't slow the car properly. The Spaniard, who was running the new Honda engine, also complained of vibrations.

As ever, in the knowledge that tomorrow is when it really matters, the drivers will be somewhat cautious this morning, however with less than a second covering the leading four, and the leading seven covered by just 0.624s we can expect some fun and games, especially at the start.

Russell has pole, but in all honesty Antonelli never fully recovered from his early mistake. Norris has carried over his form from Hungary, while teammate Piastri is looking strong, as are the Ferraris.

However, we can also expect a thrilling battle in the midfield, where the drivers might not be quite too concerned about tomorrow.

Gasly and Bortoleto look good as do the RB pair, which includes Tsunoda.

The pitlane opens and Lindblad leads the way, followed by Ocon, Bortoleto, Bearman and Perez.

A number of drivers, including Verstappen and Hamilton, are to be investigated after the Sprint for failing to follow the Race Director's instructions, thought to relate to unsafe releases.

All are on mediums bar Leclerc and Bearman. All on used rubber bar Gasly, Bearman, Stroll, Bottas, Perez and Alonso.

They head off on the formation lap, Hadjar watching from the pit-wall.

There's an issue for Perez who is pushed into the pitlane. Elsewhere, Hamilton almost runs into the back of a slow Verstappen.

The grid forms.

They're away! All get away and through Turn 1 cleanly.

Russell leads as Norris is under pressure from Leclerc who is under pressure from Antonelli who has already made up one place after passing Piastri at the start. Perez has already retired.

At the end of Lap 1, it's: Rusell, Norris, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Bortoleto and Lindblad.

After 3 laps, other than Antonelli and Piastri, the leading eleven are exactly as they started.

As Antonelli posts a new fastest lap (14.990), Leclerc is not getting the best out of his softs and remains just under a second behind Norris.

Sainz and Bottas are under investigation for starting procedure infringements.

Hulkenberg becomes the second retirement of the day.

After 8 laps, the leading four are covered by 2.7s, with Norris 1.022s down on the leader.

"I've got no rear," reports Norris as Leclerc ups the pressure.

After 10 laps, Piastri has fallen 3s behind Antonelli and is being caught by Verstappen who has eased away from Hamilton.

As Norris continues to struggle, Russell builds a 1.3s lead.

Suddenly, Hamilton is just 0.4s behind Verstappen who is 1.5s down on Piastri.

On Lap 17, Leclerc is within 0.4s of Norris, but the Briton stands his ground.

"Box, box!" Sainz is told.

At the start of Lap 18, Leclerc nails Norris as they heads into Turn 1. The Ferrari driver immediately builds a 1s advantage over the world champion.

Antonelli closes on the struggling McLaren driver. In all honesty, it appears to be a matter of time.

As dark clouds move in, Verstappen asks if it is going to rain before the end of the race. He is told that it isn't.

However, Piastri is advised that "rain risk is increasing".

At the start of Lap 22, Antonelli is all over Norris.

Seemingly, Perez and Hulkenberg are both back on track.

Antonelli makes a move but Norris has it covered... just.

Russell begins the final lap 1.2s clear of Leclerc. As he subsequently takes the flag the rain begins to fall and it is heavy.

Behind Russell, it's Leclerc, Norris, Antonelli, Piastri, Verstappen, Hamilton and Gasly who claim the points, with Bortoleto ninth ahead of Lindblad.

Lawson is eleventh, ahead of Colapinto, Tsunoda, Ocon, Bearman, Albon, Stroll, Alonso, Bottas, Sainz, Perez and Hulkenberg.

Not a bad result," says Norris, "not the best, it would have been nicer to be a little bit faster today. But Charles was too quick.

"I don't think it was the tyres," he adds, "they were just a little bit quicker today.

"We are very good in high-speed, the car is just not performing to the level it needs to in the slow speed.

"We can be happy with the progress we are making," he insists, "but we need more."

"Always when you are the only one doing something, it is either very right or very wrong," says Leclerc. "But it was good, it means we did our homework in FP1.

"I knew Lando didn't have much deployment on the main straight, so I needed to maximise that," he explains. "But we still arrived at the braking point at the same moment, so it was tough.

"The car is feeling good, so it is good to start the second half of the season like this."

"Good start to the weekend," says Russell. "If it was one more lap, it would have been a very different end to the race," he adds, referring to the rain.

"I knew if there were going to be any overtakes, they would be towards the end, so I knew I needed to manage the tyres to make sure I had some at the end.

"I knew Charles would be fast, but I was able to stay away."

A great move by Leclerc but other than that it was a procession with just the two minor changes in the top eleven.

As for the Weather Gods, clearly they are playing with us.