Norris complained about Verstappen’s driving, saying he had been pushed off, while Verstappen countered by saying his rival had driven off by himself. The stewards agreed with the four-time world champion.
From then on, Norris and Piastri tracked Verstappen for the final 32 laps, with just over two seconds separating them most of the time.
But Norris could not get within a second of Verstappen, and in fact it was Piastri who looked to have the best pace, sometimes closing to within 0.5secs of his team-mate.
Piastri suggested to the team that he felt he had the pace to beat Verstappen – a thinly veiled request to be let past.
But McLaren did not interfere in their battle and the drivers crossed the line in the order they had held all race, separated by just 2.2 seconds.
Piastri moves into third place in the championship ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, and is 13 points behind his team-mate.
Verstappen said: “It was tough, just pushing very hard on the last set. The two McLarens were pushing me very hard.
“Not easy to manage the tyres. I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend but we didn’t give up, we carried on improving the car and today it was in its best form. Starting on pole was very important.”
Norris added: “The pace was too similar to do anything more. Long race, a lot of pushing, flat out from start to finish, but nothing special we had to get Max on. He deserved it.
“They were quick, they’ve made some improvements and we’ll have to work hard.”
The top three were in a race of their own and the entire grand prix was pretty static in terms of order.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held off Russell for fourth place, while the Briton’s 18-year-old team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli put in a strong final stint to close to less than two seconds behind his team-mate.
Lewis Hamilton, on an alternate tyre strategy, took seventh from eighth place on the grid, getting ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar early in the race.
Alex Albon drove an attacking race, complaining to the Williams team about his strategy, to take ninth, ahead of the Haas of Briton Oliver Bearman.
In his first race for Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda finished 12th with the man he replaced, Liam Lawson, 17th in the Racing Bull.
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