Isack Hadjar is on the move following his lethargic start off the line. The Frenchman has passed Carlos Sainz in the Williams and is now running in 13th place.

George Russell leads from Lewis Hamilton by 2.3 seconds now.

George Russell has cleared the first hurdles in the 66-lap grand prix in Spain. The Mercedes driver, on the medium tyre compared to Hamilton's soft, is 1.7 seconds in front of the seven-time world champion.

Liam Lawson has kept hold of eighth place, Nico Hulkenberg is running in ninth and Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad is up to 10th after a very slow start for Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Abbi Pulling
2024 F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Live

George is very experienced, he has been in this position a few times. I think he is smart enough to play the long game and not get ahead of himself. He knows he is on a different strategy to the Ferraris. I think he has the maturity and experience to be smart with this one.

The first of two 'Vamos' Grands Prix this season is under way!

George Russell gets a good jump off the line and holds Lewis Hamilton at bay into the first corner. Kimi Antonelli stays third, Lando Norris is fourth.

Charles Leclerc is already up to seventh from 10th place.

We have asked you to take a vote on who you think will win in Barcelona.

Here are the results before lights are out for the Barcelona- Catalunya Grand Prix.

48% of our audience think it is Lewis Hamilton's chance to take his first Ferrari victory.

24% think George Russell can convert pole position to a race win in the Mercedes.

20% of the votes go to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

It is 2% for McLaren's Lando Norris and 3% for Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.

2% of the votes goes to someone else.

The two Mercedes of polesitter George Russell and third place Kimi Antonelli are starting on the medium tyres from lights out, while Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in second has opted for the soft compound off the line.

Down at the back of the field, Sergio Perez for Cadillac, plus the two Aston Martins - Fernando Alonso is now starting from the pit lane - have gone hard for this opening stint.

BBC Sounds

Alice Powell, 2024 F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling and BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson will be taking us through today's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

To tune in to commentary, click the 'listen live' tab atthe top of this page, head to the BBC Sounds app and search for 5 Live if you're on the go this afternoon or ask your smart speaker to "play 5 Live".

George Russell speaking to Sky Sports: "Ferrari are still the team to beat off the line they've got a really good race car. they were faster than us on a lot of the corners yesterday. so that might play in there hands today with the temperature but I think we still have the best package.

"In these conditions it's never going to be nice and comfortable. I've got a lot great drivers around me, Lewis is on form, nothing seems stop Kimi at the moment so I need to try and make amends."

Image source, Getty Images

A bit more from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports earlier on.

On possibility of Kimi Antonelli being in front at Turn One: "[The straight] is so long, I think P3 is probably the best position if you have a good getaway at the start of the race, that's why I wanted to emphasise the 'one car through Turn One' rule. But it's about braking late, getting your nose in so we'll see what happens."

On helping boost George Russell's morale: "I think it's always a team effort, yes I spent quite some time talking to him so were a few others in the team. It was about looking at the data, F1 is physics not mystics, what went wrong. With his engineers he decided to go back to a baseline that worked for him. On the emotional side, we tried giving him the support and saying 'we are in this with you, let's restart, let's reset'."

On appealing Russell's penalties in Monaco: "We wrote to the FIA For a right of review as well. To be honest I'm not sure this is a realistic outcome because you open up a can of worms. Normally if you have a stop and go and don't serve it, it's 20 seconds and that would put George back in P4 but then what are all the other consequences. I'm not sure this is going to hold with the judges but we have to do it for George's benefit."

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes' last double podium was at the Chinese Grand Prix in March, but that doesn't matter, as the number of wins Kimi Antonelli has collected in the past five races - all of them - puts them 79 points clear of Ferrari in second.

In the midfield battle, fifth-placed Alpine now have a 15-point gap to Racing Bulls in sixth thanks to regaining that Monaco third place, and Aston Martin are off the mark with Fernando Alonso moving up to 10th after the penalties were dished out last week.

Haas' Ollie Bearman, who starts P15, said: "Generally in these hot, high degradation races, the soft compounds tend to work pretty well, we saw that last year in Bahrain.

"We focus the majority of our race on the soft tyres because to achieve the same lap time, you're overheating a lot less, you're sliding a lot less.

"Generally we find the soft compounds to work well. I'm not sure if that's going to be the case today, look at what the majority have done, we're the outliers, hopefully that pays off for us today."

Image source, Getty Images

Abbi Pulling
2024 F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Live

That is exactly what we are waiting for, that run down into Turn One. [Lewis] Hamilton, I think he is showing lots of confidence in himself and knows he has a chance of winning today with that Ferrari off the line. Around Barcelona it is so hard to overtake. Ok, with the new hybrid systems and the battery management works, it has promoted more overtaking. But when you're in the lead at Barcelona, that aero wash that you face, he knows that if he can get in the lead into Turn One, he has a chance.

Don't forget George Russell started P3 last year and he swooped round the outside to take the lead into Turn One, it is anyone's game.

Image source, Getty Images

Round seven of the 2026 seaon and teenager Kimi Antonelli has a decent advantage at the top of the drivers' championsip. The Italian leads the man he replaced at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, by 66 points heading into today's 66-lap grand prix.

George Russell is trying to recover after two race weekends with no points on the board and after his latest disappointment in Monaco, the Briton is trailing team-mate Antonelli by 68 points.

McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are level on 58 points, while Pierre Gasly is clear of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar by nine points after the Alpine driver's third place in Monte Carlo was reinstated after an appeal.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

Grands Prix have tended to in recent years to default to a one-stop strategy. It doesn't look like that is going to happen in Barcelona, today. Two or maybe even three stops for everybody is the prediction. That start between Russell on pole position and Hamilton, alongside him on the front row. Kimi Antonelli in third. It is going to be one of the key moments in the race.

It is a long run down to the first corner, slipstream effect is large and of course the Ferrari is very fast-starting this year because of its engine characteristics. Who is going to make it to the first corner? We don't know. Usually the winner of this race comes from the first three spots on the grid but with the strategy this year, it might be a little different.

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, talking to Sky Sports about the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, when team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other: "Good cinema. We had a few difficult moments to discuss it afterwards but it is part of our story, part of Nico Rosberg's championship-winning campaign. I've been asked by all the TV stations if it's going to be a repeat of 2016, I said 'I hope not, only one Mercedes can fit through Turn One'."

On the lessons learnt from 2016 "I came into F1 as a nobody. Nico and Lewis [Hamilton] were superstars, so for me at the beginning to settle in the right way, to represent the team and the authority with these two who were so experienced, was difficult for me. But eventually, we started to work with each other. I always try to understand the drivers' motivations and objectives, you need to just acknowledge that they're fighting for a world championship. You can't suddenly go for the team play when all of their life they've been calibrated to be selfish, to race for that victory."

Abbi Pulling
2024 F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Live

George [Russell] needs momentum, his team-mate Kimi Antonelli is breathing down his neck this season and leaps ahead in the championship so it is exactly what he needed. He's got a lot of confidence going into today, it's his race to lose for sure. But, Hamilton next to him, very experienced and he seems so eager and hungry to get his first win for Ferrari.

Image source, Alex Albon

Alex Albon is celebrating today - whatever happens in the race, as he's starting way down the field in P18 - as he marks a milestone moment in his Williams journey.

The 30-year-old is lining up in Barcelona for his 96th start with the team, surpassing 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell's record of 95.

Albon is wearing a special tribute design to Briton Mansell this weekend - a replica of his '92 championship-winning helmet. "It’s a surreal feeling to have my name alongside some of the true greats of this sport and this iconic team," said Albon.

"Thank you, Nigel, for your kind words and for allowing me to race with your helmet this weekend a gesture I won’t forget."