Piastri trailed pole-sitter Leclerc in the early stages of the 51-lap encounter but overhauled him shortly after the front-runners’ sole pit stop phase, with Perez – and eventually Sainz – joining them to make it a tense, four-way scrap for honours.
It was Piastri who ultimately came out on top, having expertly defended P1 on several occasions and gained a little bit of breathing space when Leclerc’s tyres faded in the closing laps, which pushed the Ferrari into the clutches of Perez and Sainz.
Drama ensued at the start of the penultimate lap when a failed pass on Leclerc led to Perez going wheel-to-wheel with Sainz – the pair spectacularly colliding on the run between Turns 2 and 3 and ending their afternoons in the concrete wall.
While the race ended under the Virtual Safety Car, there was no stopping the celebrations for McLaren and Piastri, who reflected on “the most stressful afternoon of my life” to bag a second Grand Prix win and help McLaren move to the top of the constructors’ championship.
Behind Piastri and Leclerc, a big winner from the clash between Perez and Sainz was George Russell, who took an unlikely podium in his Mercedes, while Lando Norris – on an alternative strategy from P15 – passed title rival Max Verstappen for P4 late in the race.
Fernando Alonso had a lonely afternoon in his Aston Martin, being promoted to sixth position with the drama ahead, while Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto built on Williams’s strong qualifying display to score a valuable haul of points for the Grove-based outfit.
Lewis Hamilton made it a points finish for Mercedes after his engine-related back-of-the-grid start, with the final reward of the day going to Haas stand-in Ollie Bearman, who impressively finished just ahead of experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
Pierre Gasly also rose from the rear of the field to take 12th, having been disqualified from qualifying, followed by RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon – the latter two recovering from power unit penalties.
Valtteri Bottas was the final finisher in the other Sauber, with Perez and Sainz ending the race on the sidelines alongside Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda, who clashed on the opening lap to leave the former with a puncture and the latter with car damage.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
