Everyone was on mediums aside from Zhou Guanyu who went for hards. The Chinese driver started in the pits following set-up changes.
Verstappen got away well, comfortably leading Norris. The McLaren driver had to defend hard against Russell up to turn 3. Lewis Hamilton cleared Carlos Sainz for 4th but took to the run off.
Charles Leclerc’s miserable weekend continued. He got sandwiched by Pérez and Piastri at turn 1, leading to the Aussie clipping his front wing. He was forced to pit, dropping to P19.
Logan Sargeant also boxed and switched to hards as well.
Critically for Red Bull, Pérez jumped Piastri on the first lap at turn 4 as he squeezed him towards the gravel on exit, moving into 6th.
Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Pérez, Piastri, Ocon, Hülkenberg and Magnussen was the top 10 at the end of the opening lap.
Haas continued to look strong, with Hülkenberg clearing Ocon for P8.
Lewis Hamilton was on a charge early doors, passing Russell into turn 3 with DRS on lap 3. However, the younger Brit got DRS in the next zone and easily took the place back on the run to turn 4.
Sainz took P4 from Hamilton three tours later as Mercedes asked him to give up a position because the seven-time World Champion went off at turn 1 at the start and gained an advantage.
It was revenge for Oscar Piastri on lap 7 as he made a superb pass on Sergio Pérez, sweeping around the outside at turn 6 for P6.
Haas and RB boxed at the end of lap 10 with Magnussen (P10) and Ricciardo (P12). Nico Hülkenberg and Fernando Alonso followed them in a lap later.
Unfortunately for the German driver, he lost out to his teammate as a 3.4s pit stop left him vulnerable on pit exit. However, he got the place back on the next lap at turn 4.
Hülkenberg, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Alonso, Leclerc, Albon and Sargeant was the order of the stoppers at the back of the field.
At turn 3, Zhou Guanyu got clattered into by Fernando Alonso as they fought for P13. Fortunately for the Chinese driver, there was no significant damage. The Aston Martin was handed a 10-second penalty.
The big guns started to pit from lap 20 onwards. Lewis Hamilton, however, was handed a 5-second penalty. He got a kick of oversteer and crossed the white line on pit entry.
Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Piastri, Hülkenberg, Pérez, Magnussen and Ricciardo was the top 10 once everyone pitted. Pérez cleared Hülkenberg on lap 27 for P7 on his much fresher tyres.
After boxing later, the Alpines found themselves in a DRS train behind Daniel Ricciardo. They could not pass Fernando Alonso because of that.
Once again a 5-second penalty was handed out as Sergio Pérez sped in the pit lane.
Alonso eventually lost DRS on lap 35, with Ocon and Gasly clearing him at turns 1 and 3 respectively. In classic Alpine fashion, Ocon ran Gasly wide up at 3 but no damage was done.
Although he was somewhat out of control, Yuki Tsunoda managed to lunge Alex Albon at turn 3 to take P13 at that stage.
Ricciardo kicked off the second stops in the fight for the lower end of the points. Unfortunately for the Australian, the undercut attempt on Kevin Magnussen did not work.
The Alpines went at it on lap 40 as Ocon defended into turn 3. Although the 2021 Hungarian GP winner got DRS, Gasly swept around the outside of turn 4 and got the advantage on the run to turn 6.
Alex Albon joined Lewis Hamilton in the 5-second penalty club for crossing the white line on pit entry.
Russell and Sainz boxed on lap 46 and 47 respectively, coming out in P5 and P6.
Race leader Max Verstappen boxed at the end of lap 51 and had a slow stop of 6.5. The left rear was slow to come off and was held as Norris boxed. The McLaren driver soon got in DRS and went for it.
On lap 55, he looked to lunge like he did in the sprint but Verstappen aggressively covered it off.
Verstappen led Norris, Russell, Sainz, Piastri, Hamilton, Hülkenberg, Perez, Magnussen and Ricciardo with 15 laps to go.
The top 2 went at it again on lap 59 as Norris sent a monster lunge but ran off the track at turn 3. He gave the place back immediately. As he got the black-and-white flag for track limits before that, a penalty for Norris was inevitable.
Three laps later, Norris forced Verstappen off as he tried a move into turn 3.
But the boiling point was reached on lap 64 as Verstappen and Norris came together. The Dutchman put a squeeze on up at turn 3 as he looked to defend, leading to contact. Both drivers picked up damage, with Norris retiring.
Verstappen had a puncture but managed to continue, coming out in P5. He was handed a 10-second penalty for the contact.
In the battle for 2nd, Oscar Piastri used his fresh tyres to get the switchback on Carlos Sainz out of turn 4 to go around the outside into T6.
On the final lap, Pérez overtook Hülkenberg at turn 3. However, the German used DRS to get him back down to T4 and take P6 back.
The collision between Verstappen and Norris opened the door for George Russell to take his second career win in extraordinary circumstances. Piastri and Sainz completed the podium positions.
Hamilton, Verstappen, Hülkenberg, Perez, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Gasly completed the points scorers in a crazy and controversial ending.
