Max Verstappen started in the first position and led the race at the start. Lando Norris and the Ferraris followed closely behind, with Charles Leclerc leading Carlos Sainz. Oscar Piastri from McLaren stayed in fifth place after a grid penalty pushed him back.
During the first lap, Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes moved up to seventh place. Yuki Tsunoda from Red Bull had a slow start and dropped to ninth place, losing another spot to Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
By the tenth lap, Verstappen was 2.5 seconds ahead of Norris, and by lap 20, he extended his lead to over 5.5 seconds.
The first of the top six drivers to pit was George Russell from Mercedes. Norris pitted on lap 23, switching to hard tires like most other drivers. However, he rejoined the race just behind Sergio Perez from Red Bull, who had started with hard tires after a poor qualifying session.
Norris had to use the DRS to pass Perez. Verstappen pitted on lap 25 and rejoined in fourth place, ahead of Norris.
Leclerc briefly led the race after the pit stops, with Sainz in second. Verstappen’s lead was 6.6 seconds over Norris at half distance, with Piastri chasing Leclerc.
In the closing stages, Norris tried to close the gap to Verstappen, but he started running wide on corners. Verstappen managed to maintain the gap despite tire wear and battery management concerns.
Verstappen won the race with a margin of 0.7 seconds over Norris. Leclerc finished third, followed by Piastri and Sainz.
Hamilton finished in sixth place after a gravel excursion, while Russell set the fastest lap on his way to seventh place after stopping again. Perez finished eighth, ahead of Lance Stroll from Aston Martin and Tsunoda.
