Max Verstappen predicted a difficult race for Red Bull after their Sprint struggles, and he finished where he started in fourth, a few seconds ahead of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who dramatically made contact on the opening lap.

Leclerc raced on with a damaged front wing, deciding not to change it in the pits, while Hamilton was the only frontrunning driver to complete a two-stop strategy – a series of fastest laps not quite enough to make up for the time he had lost swapping tyres again.

Esteban Ocon was a brilliant seventh for Haas after their tough start to 2025, followed by the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, the lead Williams of Alex Albon and team mate Ollie Bearman, who denied Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll points.

A period of adaptation for Carlos Sainz at Williams continued as he placed 13th, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar 14th after making two stops and getting involved in a late incident with Jack Doohan, for which the Alpine man was penalised.

Liam Lawson took a lowly 15th for Red Bull, from Doohan, the struggling Kick Saubers of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg and the Racing Bulls car of Yuki Tsunoda, who had to pit a third time due to front wing damage, while Fernando Alonso retired early on amid brake trouble.

More to follow.