Max Verstappen could probably have won this race any number of ways. But his route to a Prost-equalling career number 51 victory was actually made quite straightforward by outside events. Team mate Sergio Perez – who’d been only 0.15 seconds off Verstappen’s pace in qualifying and with a very comparable race simulation run on Friday – went off at the first turn, trying to squeeze into the lead and taking flight over Charles Leclerc’s wheel. The second Red Bull was fatally damaged and Verstappen’s challenge was instantly reduced – but he still had one. Though the Red Bull was comfortably the quickest car – Ferrari front row lock-out notwithstanding – Verstappen was committed to a slower strategy.
Red Bull had committed right at the start of the weekend to a two-stop even though theoretically the one-stop was slightly faster. They just felt it was a safer option, given how suddenly the track temperature can change, and safe in the knowledge that even if it was slightly slower in theory, their car could overcome any difference, given that the numbers said the two strategies were only around six seconds apart. Verstappen was very keen that they run the race this way, accepting that he might lose track position and have to overtake, and the team agreed. Accordingly, Verstappen didn’t use either of the allocated two sets of hard tyres and so took those into the race in addition to his single new set of mediums. Perez saved a set of mediums in addition to a single set of hards. Everyone else in the top ten on the grid, intending to one-stop, took just a single set of mediums and hards each. Red Bull’s pace had allowed it the luxury of a more sparing use of the two favoured compounds.
Verstappen was ahead of the field by Turn 1, and never looked back
