Four drivers were making a punchy start on soft tyres, most notably both Red Bulls, so Verstappen was looking to get ahead off the start. The tyres were a big help, as was Norris putting in a trademark poor start. He got up to second, despite a wobble on dirt on the track. If Piastri hadn't been so quick to pull over and cut off Norris, Verstappen would not have got past.
Albon had an amazing start and made up five places, whilst Bortoleto's car just wouldn't get going and he fell back six places.
The McLarens showed their dominant speed and on lap 9, Norris was past Verstappen and chasing Piastri. The rain came on lap 21 and several drivers had just put in an early first stop. No one was looking to put on wet tyres though. We all thought that it would be Stroll who crashed out of the race first but it was Hamilton caught out by the wet track and smashed into the barrier. A Safety Car was immediately brought out and most of the drivers pitted. The McLarens double-stacked but the jack didn't release quick enough and Norris lost out. Hamilton was left on track picking up pieces of his car and putting them all together.
Norris enquired whether Hamilton had slid off by going on the paint and then told off his engineer for not telling him first. The drivers would be keen to avoid it.
In the restart though, Lawson drove into Sainz and the pack overtook them. The Red Bull needed a new set of tyres but the Williams had to have a new wing too. For some reason it was Sainz who got a ten second penalty not Lawson, who was at fault. Ahead, the top three had remained in the same places and Hadjar was still holding onto 4th as well. Halfway through the race was a strong yet risky overtake on Russell by LeClerc. They got battling fiercely. It might be the move of the season. To make matters worse for Russell, he was asked to move over for his team mate a few laps later.
There was a mix of strategies in play throughout the grid and when Antonelli made an unexpected second stop, LeClerc was bought in to cover off the undercut. He was out just ahead of the Mercedes. Corners later though, Antonelli nudged him on the banking, spinning LeClerc onto the paint, then into the barrier and finally through the dirt. Presumably shocked by the turn of events, LeClerc spun the car around to keep it going and get it back to the pits but immediately realised there was no hope. Both the Ferraris were out. If they were following form, the stewards would give him a ten second penalty for the incident too.
A Safety Car was called and the McLarens double-stacked again for slow stops. When the race restarted there were some overtakes further back but the top six remained the same. LeClerc remained out on the dunes, posing on top and in a deckchair, Alonso-style.
Antonelli was given a ten second penalty for his collision and then another five seconds for speeding in the pits.
Verstappen had to give up the chase after a couple of laps; he called in to his engineer to say that he couldn't get any more out of the car. With seven laps to go though, Norris reported smelling smoke and the cockpit was filling with it. Then it really went and the car stopped on track. This was really not what he wanted. Lando was sat on the barrier and his engineer had his head in his hands then he moved to sit with his head down in the dunes.
There was a third Safety Car to remove the McLaren, which meant that Antonelli would fall far down the field once his time penalties were applied (ten places in the end). For the next restart, there was also drizzle lightly falling.
Piastri finished first, followed by Verstappen, then Hadjar for a first career podium in F1. He was also voted Driver of the Day; heaven help him if he is suddenly moved to replace Tsunoda in Red Bull. Piastri gave a little whoop, nothing much, nothing too celebratory.
