Race start
Verstappen moved clear away from Leclerc and the two Ferraris followed him into Turn 1, with three cars jostling for fourth. As Norris and stroll fought for the inside, Hamilton swept past on the outside and Stroll lost out further as team-mate Alonso moved ahead.
There was contact further back when Yuki Tsunoda damaged his front wing when he brushed Esteban Ocon. He ran off the track two corners later and rejoined, but a safety car period was called to clear the debris.
Verstappen once again maintained his lead at the restart, as Sainz closely trailed Leclerc behind, clearly looking for a way through. “I think you can see” he said when asked about pace, but was still told to hold station.
Perez quickly began climbing the field from his 15th-place grid slot and was ninth by lap 12. Going in the opposite direction was Nico Hülkenberg; the Haas’s race pace not able to keep him in the top ten after starting eighth.
Hamilton was also struggling. “This car’s slow mate,” he radioed, shortly before he was an early recipient of a black and white warning flag for exceeding track limits and went on to tell the team that he couldn’t keep the Mercedes on the circuit.
Norris impressed in the upgraded McLaren
Hülkenberg’s descent down the grid ended when he lost power and coasted to a halt, triggering a virtual safety car on lap 14. The opportunity to stop, while losing less time to those still on track, was too good to miss for most of the grid, including Alonso, who was likely planning to go longer on hard tyres, while most others had started on mediums.
Neither of the Red Bulls stopped though, which left the running order as Verstappen from Leclerc then Perez, Hamilton, Norris and Sainz who was frustrated at dropping to sixth and asked why the team hadn’t stayed out.
It didn’t take him long to pass Norris, Hamilton and Perez after the restart which also prompted action aplenty: Gasly lost out to Bottas and Magnussen in a single corner.
