The chaos started before the event had even got underway after Lance Stroll spun off during the formation lap, leading to some confusion over the aborted start procedure as pole-sitter Lando Norris led a number of cars away while others stayed on the grid, meaning that Norris, George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will be investigated after the race for a start procedure infringement.
When the Grand Prix did begin, Russell enjoyed a stronger launch and was led by Norris, while Verstappen worked his way through the pack in the early stages. As the event unfolded amid changing levels of rainfall, a red flag was thrown on Lap 32 following a crash for Franco Colapinto in the Williams – shortly after Russell and Norris had lost out by pitting just as a Virtual Safety Car period ended.
This meant that Esteban Ocon led from Verstappen and Pierre Gasly when the race resumed with a little over half the distance remaining. But after another restart – following a Safety Car appearance due to a crash for Carlos Sainz – Verstappen surged into the lead and from there looked untouchable, the world champion going on to take the chequered flag with a margin of 19.477s.
Meanwhile, it proved to be a dream day for Alpine, with Ocon and Gasly holding on to P2 and P3 to score a double podium – resulting in the team making an extraordinary jump from ninth to sixth in the constructors’ standings.
Russell ended the race in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Charles Leclerc in Ferrari, with Norris following in what was indeed a disappointing sixth as the Briton lost ground to Verstappen in the championship standings. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri crossed the line in seventh but was hit with a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Lawson, dropping the Australian down to eighth.
This promoted Tsunoda up into seventh, making it a double points celebration for RB as Lawson ended the race in ninth. Lewis Hamilton scored the final point on offer after working his way forward for Mercedes and fending off a charging Sergio Perez in the latter stages, leaving the Red Bull driver in P11.
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Ollie Bearman took 12th for Haas after an eventful afternoon for the teenager, who faced some off-track moments and picked up a 10-second time penalty for a collision with Colapinto. Valtteri Bottas followed in 13th for Kick Sauber, ahead of the final classified runners of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and fellow Kick Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu.
Sainz and Colapinto both recorded retirements following their crashes, while Nico Hulkenberg was given a black flag just before the race restart after the Haas man received assistance from marshals when returning to the track following an earlier off.
Stroll did not take the start following his spin on the original formation lap in the Aston Martin, while Alex Albon had been unable to participate for Williams as the team did not have time to repair his car following his earlier crash in qualifying.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
