(Motorsports news) From the start, Sainz took the lead, with teammate Charles Leclerc passing George Russell’s Mercedes for an early Ferrari 1-2. A safety car for Logan Sargeant’s Williams crashing into the barrier brought the majority of the field into the pits, with Leclerc incurring a delay that dropped him behind Russell and Lando Norris (McLaren). He later lost another position to Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) after running wide following the restart.
The Mercedes drivers were able to use their fresh medium tyres and chase down the leaders thanks to a virtual safety car at two-thirds distance. The top four raced nose-to-tail to the finish in a dramatic conclusion, when Russell crashed out on the penultimate lap. Norris was in second place, with Hamilton in third. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull started from 11th place on hard tyres, but after making early progress, the safety car wrecked the team’s strategy, and he fell back from second place on old rubber.
He recovered from a 15th-place finish to finish fifth. Polesitter Sainz led soft-shod Leclerc, who jumped up from third on the grid to past Russell. Hamilton also overtook Russell off the track after racing wide at Turn 1. On lap 2, they swapped positions again, and Hamilton let Lando Norris (McLaren) pass as well. Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri retired on the first lap after colliding with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, which damaged Perez’s front wing endplate.
On lap 20, Sargeant understeered into the wall, breaking his front wing, which subsequently dumped debris when he returned to the pits, resulting in a brief safety car period. Sainz pitted and maintained his lead, while Leclerc, who was leading the pack, had to be detained when vehicles entered the pits, and he lost positions to Russell and Norris. Verstappen started 11th on hards and grabbed a position from Liam Lawson’s Haas on the first lap and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas on the second lap.
On lap 6, he passed Hulkenberg’s teammate Kevin Magnussen. Verstappen stayed out in front of the safety car, which temporarily boosted him to second place but left him prone on old rubber. Russell raced aggressively at the restart, becoming the first driver all season to pass Verstappen on lap 23, while Norris passed Perez (who also stayed out) for fourth. Hamilton gained a position from Leclerc when the Ferrari drove wide, and then passed Perez a lap later before also running wide at the turn exit.
On lap 27, Norris past Verstappen for third, but Hamilton pushed him back to fourth, and Leclerc did the same a lap later. Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin (whose teammate Lance Stroll could not start due to his massive qualifying crash) challenged Perez for eighth on lap 37 but lost a slot to Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who passed Perez two laps later and Alonso followed suit at Turn 14.
Verstappen pitted on lap 42 and rejoined in 15th place on mediums. Ocon’s strong race ended on lap 43 when he pulled out at Turn 2, prompting a virtual safety car, which Mercedes utilized to pit Russell and Hamilton from second and fourth place, respectively, to use their fresh medium tyres, resuming in fourth and fifth place. As the race restarted, Sainz led Norris by 1.5 seconds, with Leclerc in third. Russell began lapping 2s faster than the cars ahead of him.
Alonso spun out on lap 47 and rejoined in 17th place. Russell closed the gap to Leclerc and passed him for third on lap 53, followed by Hamilton a lap later. Russell quickly tracked Norris down, and the top four ran nose to tail in the final four laps, with Sainz declaring his tyres were “finished.” Norris defended aggressively against Russell, allowing Hamilton to begin hitting his teammate.
Russell fell out on the penultimate lap, moving Hamilton to third, which Norris narrowly held off as Sainz won by 0.8s. Norris also acknowledged to hitting the wall in the same spot as Russell. Verstappen was also on the move, climbing into the top ten on his new tires. He advanced to fifth place after passing Pierre Gasly’s Alpine with seven laps remaining, finishing just behind Leclerc at the finish line.
Also read: Russell believes Ferrari did not run the engine at maximum capacity
