Max Verstappen won the race ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez, while George Russell completed the podium. Charles Leclerc, the pole-sitter and championship leader, was forced to retire due to engine issues.[3][4] Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. recovered from 11th, after suffering a spin, to finish fourth,[5] ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who also made a come back from 19th,[6] after suffering a puncture at the start.[7] With the win, Red Bull led Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, while the Drivers' Championship standings switched from a 19-point Leclerc lead to a 6-point advantage for Verstappen.[8]
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[13]
Practice
There were three practice sessions, each lasting one hour. The first two practice sessions took place on Friday 20 May at 14:00 and 17:00 local time (UTC+02:00) and the third practice session took place at 13:00 on 21 May.[2]Charles Leclerc led each practice session, the first ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen,[14] the second ahead of George Russell, and Lewis Hamilton,[15] and the third ahead of Verstappen and Russell.[16]
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on 21 May at 16:00 local time and lasted one hour.[2]
^1 – Fernando Alonso was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[27]
Race
The race started at 15:00 local time,[2] with Lewis Hamilton starting with the medium compound, and the rest of the field starting on the soft compound.[28]
Race report
Charles Leclerc kept the lead ahead of Max Verstappen,[5] while Carlos Sainz Jr. had a bad start and was overtaken by George Russell and Sergio Pérez.[5] Going into turn 4, Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen had contact, with Magnussen driving through the gravel,[5] leaving the drivers running in 19th and 20th respectively. Hamilton, who had suffered a front-left tyre puncture,[29] suggested retiring the car but was motivated to race by the team.[8] Sainz Jr. spun at turn 4 on lap 7, dropping to 11th, and Verstappen at the same spot two laps later,[5] both of them blamed it on a wind gust,[30] and Sainz said the car suffered damage that hampered his comeback,[31] and that he was "not driving naturally".[32] By lap 12, Verstappen was let through by Pèrez but was suffering from recurring DRS issues,[5][33] despite parts of DRS being replaced before the race.[34] On lap 13, Russell and Verstappen were the first of the top four drivers to pit for the medium-compound tyres, followed on lap 18 by Pèrez, who came out behind Russell and Verstappen.[5] As Verstappen was not able to pass Russell,[35] Pèrez asked to be given back the position on lap 26 but was denied,[36] although he was promised a position swap later in the race.[37][38]
On lap 27, Leclerc, who pitted later than the other top four driver and had built a significant lead,[39] retired from the race with a turbo and MGU-H failure,[40]Zhou Guanyu retired a few laps later.[5] Russell inherited the lead of the race, with Pérez in second, while Verstappen had an early second pit stop on lap 30.[5] On lap 31, Perez managed to overtake Russell for the lead.[5] On lap 36, Russell pitted, followed by Pérez a lap later; both went for the medium compound.[5] On lap 44, Verstappen pitted for a third time, back onto the medium-compound tyre, with Pèrez now leading the race.[5] Pérez was instructed to let Verstappen through as they were on different strategies,[41] handing Verstappen the lead of the race on lap 49;[5] Pérez described this as "unfair",[8] and Verstappen would remain unchallenged for the rest of the race.[5] Hamilton, running in 5th, overtook Sainz for 4th on lap 60, Sainz retook the position on lap 64, with Hamilton being told to lift and coast,[5] and his teammate Russell also having to slow down due to overheating issues.[42] Despite the issues, Russell and Hamilton were able to finish third and fifth, respectively.[5] On lap 55, Pérez set the fastest lap of the race.[28]
Verstappen won the race ahead of Pérez,[5] producing the Red Bull team's second 1–2 finish of the season.[43]Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, the latter of whom started 20th because he took a grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements,[5][44] and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top-ten finishers.[45] For the first time in the season, Verstappen and Red Bull took the lead in the Drivers' and Constructors' standings.[8] After the race, Pérez said he wanted answers from the team.[46][47][48] Pérez later said he was satisfied after internal talks.[49] Despite his retirement, Leclerc said he "[felt] better" with Ferrari improving race pace and tyre management, two issues that held the team back in the last two races at the Emilia Romagna and Miami Grands Prix.[50] At the same time, Leclerc said: "We can't afford [for] this to happen too many times."[51] Hamilton said that his comeback felt "better than a win".[52][53]
