And there was tension at Ferrari as the team first rejected and then accepted Lewis Hamilton’s request to be allowed past team-mate Charles Leclerc as they raced on divergent tyre strategies.
Hamilton was let past to try to challenge Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes ahead of him, but failed to catch the Italian, or pull significantly ahead of Leclerc.
The first stint of the race was packed with drama at the front. Verstappen ran deep into the first corner and Norris attempted to pass him at the next curve.
But Verstappen jinked towards him and Norris ran off track, losing places to Antonelli, Piastri, Russell and the Williams of Alex Albon.
Norris complained that Verstappen ran him off the track, but the stewards decided the move was legitimate and took no action.
That left both McLaren drivers needing to make up ground to try to wrest the race win from Verstappen, and they set about the quest with gusto and determination.
At the front, Piastri swept boldly past Antonelli through the final part of the Esses in the first sector of the lap, before setting off after Verstappen.
Piastri was on Verstappen’s tail by lap eight and began trying to work out how to pass the Red Bull.
Verstappen repeatedly defended to the inside, forcing Piastri to the outside, and the McLaren was never quite far enough alongside to claim the corner.
After several attempts, Piastri finally made it by on lap 14. Verstappen again defended to the inside into the last corner, and that allowed Piastri to get a run on him with the DRS overtaking aid.
Piastri tried the outside again into Turn One, and this time Verstappen went in too deep, ran wide, and Piastri cut back and nipped by on the exit of the corner.
Their battle had allowed Norris to close up to them, after wasting little time passing the drivers between him and the leaders.
Norris passed Verstappen by diving around the outside into Turn 11 on lap 17, but he ran off track in doing it, and had to give the place back.
But a lap later, he made the move with ease, Verstappen this time appearing not to bother defending after sensing the game was up.
Verstappen quickly dropped back from the McLarens, losing nine seconds in as many laps before his pit stop.
The world champion’s day became worse when the virtual safety car (VSC) was deployed during the pit-stop period.
Russell, who was the only driver in the top 10 to start on the hard tyres like Hamilton, had not yet stopped and that VSC allowed him to pit for fresh tyres and rejoin still ahead of Verstappen.
For a while, Verstappen closed in on Russell but he could get no closer than about 1.8 seconds before failing to make any further progress.
Norris also closed on Piastri at the front, but after halving his deficit to four seconds, the Australian upped his pace to show he had time in hand and led comfortably to the end.
It is the first time a McLaren driver has won three races in a row since Mika Hakkinen over the 1997-98 seasons.
Piastri’s win extends his championship lead over Norris to 16 points, with Verstappen the same margin behind in third place.
Leave a Reply