With about fifteen laps to go, everything seemed already decided, with Oscar Piastri leading ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. However, a late Safety Car — triggered by a technical issue on Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car due to an oil pressure drop in the Power Unit — bunched up the field and reignited the closing laps, particularly to Verstappen’s detriment.
At the front, the McLaren duo held firm, with Oscar Piastri keeping his teammate at bay by immediately setting a series of fastest laps, giving him enough margin to control the final stages without pressure from Norris. It was a show of strength from the Woking-based team, securing yet another one-two. But it was behind them that the race lit up in the final laps.
Red Bull chose to fit Verstappen with a set of hard tyres, effectively putting him at a two-compound disadvantage compared to his direct rivals, leaving him clearly short on grip during the restart. The Dutchman quickly lost control due to oversteer, immediately giving up position to Charles Leclerc, who had restarted in fourth with soft tyres, and then had to defend against attacks from George Russell, who was also on the softer compound.
There were several incidents between the two, including contact at Turn 5 that was immediately reviewed by the stewards: in an attempt to give the position back to Russell, Max Verstappen let the Mercedes driver through, only to attack him again straight away. The two collided.
The stewards handed the four-time world champion a ten-second penalty, which dropped him from fifth to tenth, costing him valuable points in the drivers’ championship. Taking advantage of the final-lap drama, Charles Leclerc secured an excellent third place after starting from the fourth row, finishing about a second ahead of George Russell.
The biggest beneficiary was Nico Hülkenberg, who delivered a brilliant fifth place after starting from the back due to a Q1 elimination. With an upgraded, better-balanced and more driveable Sauber, the German ran an attacking race, especially at the end, overtaking both Isack Hadjar and Lewis Hamilton, and inheriting fifth place from Max Verstappen.
It was a tough day instead for the Briton in the Ferrari, struggling from the early stages with rear-end balance and lack of grip on his SF-25, constantly under threat from Russell. A slow pit stop further compromised his race. Excellent performance by Hadjar with Racing Bulls: the Faenza-based team showed significant progress in medium-high speed corners compared to the past.
Completing the top ten were Gasly, eighth with Alpine — particularly comfortable in the fast corners — and Fernando Alonso, who, despite a trip through the gravel, managed to score his first two points of the season. Max Verstappen, penalized, ended up tenth.
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