Verstappen had initially moved into first place during an eventful start, but Sainz snatched the position back on Lap 9. Drama then unfolded in the following laps as Verstappen engaged in a scrap with title rival Lando Norris – leading to Verstappen receiving two 10-second penalties for his moves on the Briton.
That melee allowed Charles Leclerc through into second, and from there, the Ferrari duo enjoyed a mostly unchallenged drive at the front – until Norris managed to chase Leclerc down in the latter stages and take second place after a wide moment for the Monegasque.
While Norris tried to cut into Sainz’s lead, the Briton ultimately ran out of time and had to settle for second as his former teammate claimed the win by 4.7s. Leclerc made it a double Ferrari podium in third, ahead of the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, the seven-time world champion winning out in a late-race intra-team fight.
After that 20-second penalty, Verstappen put in a recovery drive to cross the line in the sixth on a tough day for Red Bull. Behind him was a better Sunday for Haas as Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg ended the event in seventh and ninth, respectively.
Sandwiched between them was Oscar Piastri, the McLaren man having climbed through the field from P17 on the grid, while Pierre Gasly claimed the final point for Alpine in P10.
Lance Stroll was Aston Martin’s sole finisher in 11th, ahead of Williams’s Franco Colapinto in 12th. The Argentinean was hit with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision in a battle with Liam Lawson in the latter stages, but that didn’t affect his finishing position.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon followed in 13th for Alpine, with the Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in 14th and 15th respectively.
Lawson ended the race down in P16 for RB, while it was a disappointing home event for Sergio Perez, the Red Bull driver ultimately crossing the line as the last classified racer in P17.
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Fernando Alonso was forced to retire his Aston Martin, marking a disappointing end to his 400th Grand Prix weekend, while Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda were early casualties after making contact on the opening lap, leading to the RB crashing out at Turn 1 before Albon’s Williams also subsequently limped off the track.
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director, Pirelli:
