If there was any doubt as to McLaren’s policy of team orders, it was quickly dispelled in a mid-race interview between McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and Sky Sport: “Let’s go racing!” he said.
Ferrari’s radio exchanges continued to raise eyebrows. “Is there a leakage?” Leclerc asked. “A leakage of what?” his engineer asked.
“I have the seat full of water.” Leclerc said, to be told: “Must be the water”.
“Let’s add that to the words of wisdom,” Leclerc replied.
It was a lack of water that was causing an impending dilemma for the rest of the field, as intermediate tyres were wearing out on a drying track, but the expectation of more rain meant that teams didn’t want to commit to slicks.
The conundrum was solved by Alonso; the latest to lose his car and crash on a patch of loose gravel that had been pulled onto the track. A second safety car period triggered a switch to slicks en-masse.
Alonso lost his Aston on a patch of gravel
Clive Mason/Getty Images
The race restarted on lap 42 but even before the next burst of rain, the track remained slippery. Leclerc span from fifth and recovered, but dropped behind Tsunoda, Albon and Hamilton.
Radios crackled with predictions of an imminent shower, but it still caught drivers unawares when, at the end of lap 44, the McLarens hit trouble.
As Piastri slid far onto the grass, Norris headed straight into the pits for intermediate tyres, followed by around half of the grid, but not the Red Bulls or Ferraris.
Verstappen led but looked to be only just keeping his car on the track as it grew ever slipperier. “It was quite spicy out there with the slick tyres,” he said after the race.
He pitted two laps later but Hamilton continued on slicks, taking the lead ahead of Leclerc — also on slicks.
Slicks proved too slippery for Lawson
The perils of the tactic were illustrated by Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto — on intermediates — who both crashed out. Under a third safety car, the Ferraris eventually pitted, with Hamilton making no secret of his dismay that he was back down in ninth place.
His outlook wouldn’t improve when he was passed by Leclerc on the lap 52 restart, the two Ferraris coming close to making contact.
Both cars did then pass Pierre Gasly‘s Alpine, but Hamilton once more lost a place to the charging Piastri, who had made his way into the points and then made a sensational move around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 9 to take ninth place.
At that point though, most eyes were on the battle for the lead as Verstappen gave it everything in the final two laps. A small error by Norris in Turn 6 brought the world champion within DRS range, and he looked to have the pace — if not the passing opportunity — to win, keeping the feet of McLaren fans firmly on the ground until the chequered flag.
Despair for Piastri after losing second place
Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Russell followed behind in third after a fairly anonymous race. He was followed by Antonelli who took advantage of the safety cars to make a remarkable recovery to fourth — and retained that place after appealing against a penalty for an unsafe pit release.
That kept the 18-year-old ahead of Albon who maintained his place in the mid top 10 throughout the race. Tsunoda had been ahead of the Williams for most of the race but stayed out on slicks for too long, went off and ended the race 12th.
“A little bit stressful, I’m not going to lie,” said Norris, who remained coy about his expectations for the year after a measured, calm, and assertive drive.
Position | Driver | Team | Time | Points |
1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1hr 42min 06.304sec | 25 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.895sec | 18 |
3 | George Russell | Mercedes | +8.481sec | 15 |
4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +12.773sec | 12 |
5 | Alex Albon | Williams | +15.135sec | 10 |
6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +17.413sec | 8 |
7 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber | +18.423sec | 6 |
8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +19.826sec | 4 |
9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +20.448sec | 2 |
10 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +22.473sec | 1 |
11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +26.502sec | 0 |
12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | +29.884sec | 0 |
13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +33.161sec | 0 |
14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +40.351sec | 0 |
15 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | Did Not Finish | 0 |
16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | DNF | 0 |
17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | DNF | 0 |
18 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | DNF | 0 |
19 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | DNF | 0 |
20 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | DNF | 0 |