It brought a thrilling pursuit, with the Ferrari and Red Bull visibly on the limit as they careened through COTA’s S-bends: a resumption of the battles that we saw in the early stages of the season.
As for much of the year, however, the Red Bull’s pace proved too much. Despite a determined defence by Leclerc, Verstappen made it past and then set off in pursuit of Hamilton, whose fate looked inevitable.
There was little he could do on lap 50 of 56, as Verstappen dived up the inside of the Mercedes to take the lead, holding the position until the chequered flag.
“This one was for Dietrich,” Verstappen said over the radio, paying tribute to Red Bull’s co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz who died the previous day. “The only thing we could do this weekend was to win.”
The victory also takes Verstappen to 13 wins in 2022, equalling the record number of victories in a season shared with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.