Pole: Max Verstappen
Winner: Max Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Max Verstappen 1:26.993
1-10
Max Verstappen takes the lead and can keep the lead with lots of pressure from Leclerc. Norris has got ahead of Russell with Piastri still running P3. Norris is now putting pressure on his teammate as Magnussen and Sargeant are battling it out at the back. With DRS enabled Sainz is up 3 places now in P13. Perez makes a move down the inside and gets past Lewis who does not fight too much. Lap 6, and the race has Clark’s down a little bit with Norris now running 3rd after getting past Piastri with Verstappen and Leclerc running in the top 2. Magnussen pits for hard tyres as he locks up the previous lap. In lap 7, Russell tries to get past Piastri but is unable to make the move stick as Ricciardo has to put for hard tyres after a visor tear-off is stuck in the brake duct. Zhou, Albon, Magnussen and Sargeant are under investigation for forcing another driver off the track. In lap 9, Russell is still putting pressure on the McLaren rookie for P4.
10-20
No further investigation is needed for Zhou and Albon. Hamilton, Gasly and Perez are in a battle for P10 to P8 as they are all within DRS range of each other. Lap 11, heading into turn 6 Piastri locks up and this allows Russell to make a move into turn 7 with the DRS as Russell now starts the charge to Norris. In lap 13, Alonso pits as Perez makes a move past Gasly for P7. In lap 14, Piastri pitted for hard tyres as Hulkenberg and Zhou also pitted. Piastri comes out of the pit just ahead of Alonso and is now putting pressure on. Piastri locks up as Norris comes into the pits as does Russell as McLaren has a problem and Russell can get ahead and take track position. Hamilton and Gasly make contact as Gasly locks up and Hamilton clips his front wing. As Ocon and Hamilton pit, we see Russell overtake Albon moving into P9. Lap 17, Verstappen pits as Leclerc stays out. In lap 18, Perez, Leclerc and Gasly have pit as Tsunoda now leads the Grand Prix. Russell is breezing past cars as he is now chasing Leclerc and is well within DRS range.
20-30
Sainz has pitted and is looking at a two-stop strategy. Russell is putting pressure on Leclerc as we see the Alpha Tauris swap positions. Perez makes a lovely move on Piastri to take P5. Verstappen looks comfortable to win the race as he is now 6 seconds ahead of Leclerc.
30-40
Bottas pits on lap 30 as Leclerc gets a second track limit warning. Lap 33, Gasly pits and comes out behind Ricciardo in P18. Norris pits for the second time and has been struggling with his tyres so far and comes out P10. In lap 35, Russell pits and comes out just ahead of Norris and needs to put in a good lap as Leclerc and Hamilton have both pits as Leclerc stays ahead of Russell. Stroll is holding up Norris as Russell can get past the Aston Martin as Piastri and Alonso pit, In lap 37 Hamilton gets past Alonso for P11 as we see Norris use DRS to get past Stroll. In lap 38, Albon is shown the black and white flag for track limits.
40-58
The championship battle with Ferrari and Mercedes is now separated by a couple of points for P2 as Russell is asking about Lewis’ race. Perez is coming into the pits who has been running second as Leclerc now inherits P2. Alonso is closing down on Sainz for P8. Hamilton is being investigated after the race for a pit stop infringement. Gasly is also being investigated for a pit stop infringement as we see Perez and Norris come together in a battle. Sainz is struggling with his tyres and is still to pit. In lap 48, Perez is now properly ahead of Norris but Norris gets the DRS and is putting pressure on Perez as that incident is under investigation. Verstappen, Sargeant and Zhou are also under investigation for pit stop infringements as it could potentially be for not having the right headgear on during the pit stops. Perez has a 5-second penalty for causing a collision. Perez gets past Russell on lap 55 and is now trying to build a 5-second gap. In lap 57, Sainz has to pit as Alonso gets past Tsunoda for P7 and moves up in the driver's championship. Leclerc slows down on the final lap and lets Perez pass to try and build a 5-second gap to Perez and Russell so Mercedes do not get enough points for p2 but it is not enough as Verstappen crosses the line p1 as Perez does and Leclerc but it is Russell who takes 3rd place due to Perez 5 second penalty.
Rate the Race
10-9
8-7
6-5
4-3
Comments