After a scintillating lap in qualifying it is Carlos Sainz who starts from pole, followed by title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with team mate Charles Leclerc in fourth. Hometown hero Sergio Pérez and Oscar Piastri had an abysmal qualifying, prompting both to start from 18th and 17th respectively. Esteban Ocon opted to change some power unit parts, causing him to start from pit lane.
Verstappen is the quickest off the line and heading into turn 1 he was on the inside of Sainz. The pole sitter however refuses to back off and had to take to the grass, keeping first place that way. He quickly decided to return the place.
In the back Alexander Albon got squeezed by Pierre Gasly and inadvertendly hit Yuki Tsunoda, sending the Japanese driver sliding along the wall and into the TecPro barrier. The Thai is also eliminated, and the safety car is deployed.
Meanwhile Pérez is under investigation for a false start, which would be a shame given he is five positions up on his starting position. Replay shows his start looks okay, but rather looks to be to far forward in his starting box. He does get a five-second time penalty however.
Leclerc complains about his drink spilling while the marshalls continue to remove the stricken cars and repair the barriers.
At the start of lap 7 the safety car comes back in and Verstappen hits the throttle inside the Foro Sol stadium, giving him enough room to stay out of the clutches of Sainz. The Dutchman also grabs the fastest lap, trying to get the Ferrari out of DRS range.
Sainz however responds with the fastest lap for himself, and he passes Verstappen into turn 1 with a little DRS help. He almost cuts turn 2, but keeps the Red Bull behind. Next lap Verstappen complains about his energy deployment and messes his exit out of turn 3. Norris takes the chance for an overtake but is pushed wide by Verstappen. Norris goes through the grass and keeps the place. Verstappen forces himself inbetween Norris and the apex of turn 7, forcing both of them off, but also taking the place back.
This gives Leclerc second place, as both actions are being under investigation by the stewards. Pérez in the meantime overtakes Lance Stroll into turn 4.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have a little battle, with the latter eventually overtaking his more experienced team mate into turn 1 at the start of lap 15. Fernando Alonso retires at the end of the lap with a mechanical issue, having a stinker in his 400th Grand Prix weekend.
Next in line for Pérez is Liam Lawson. He tries to overtake into turn 4, but Lawson closes the door. Pérez threads the needle nonetheless, and forces Lawson off. Lawson refuses to back down and both cars touch in turn 5, with the Red Bull driver losing out eventually. This drops Pérez back to Stroll, who attempts an overtake in turn 4 for the next lap. Pérez again forces his opponent wide, which results in both incidents being noted, as the Mexican pits.
Both investigations into Verstappen’s actions have resulted in a ten-second time penalty, meaning he has to wait a total of 20 seconds at his first pitstop.
Franco Colapinto fiercly defends from Piastri, but the Ozzy completes the overtake and keeps it through turns 4 and 5. A few laps later Stroll is passed.
Norris reels in Verstappen as his tyres are in much better shape. Verstappen subsequently pits and plummets down the order because of the penalties, returning behind Ocon in 14th. Ocon overtakes Zhou Guanyu, as Verstappen follows a lap later.
Hamilton is next to stop to cover Verstappen, as Ocon is the next one to be passed by the championship leader.
Norris stops the next lap and gets back out ahead of Colapinto, who is being overtaken by Hamilton. Leclerc and Russell follow suit. Leclerc keeps second as Russell drops to sixth.
As Verstappen overtakes Valtteri Bottas race leader Sainz is called to the pits, and the Ferrari driver stays in the lead. Piastri passes Lawson as Hamilton tries to overtake both, hindring the progress of the seven-time World Champion. Hamilton does overtake Lawson in turn 6, and Piastri a little later in turn 1.
Verstappen in the meantime is back into the top 10, overtaking Colapinto for eighth as we are at the halfway point.
Up front Sainz leads comfortably, but does mention a misfire in turn 3 over the radio, as Russell wants a front wing check as his endplate does dangle a bit. Colapinto also chips in as he has a wobbly steering wheel, going back and forth between soft and stiff steering.
Piastri makes his sole pitstop in lap 40, dropping him to the brink of the top 10 with a two second pitstop. Stroll overtakes Pérez, leaving only Lawson behind Checo, by courtesy of the Kiwi having just pitted. Next lap the positions are swapped, meaning Pérez is now last in his home race.
Both Verstappen and Russell note that the weather is changing, with the first one mentioning the dark sky, and Russell even noticing some rain drops.
Bottas drops two places in the space of three corners as he is passed by both Gasly and Piastri, with Piastri overtaking Gasly a lap later, bringing him in the top 10.
Pérez makes a second pitstop as he is suffering from the damage sustained in his battle with Lawson, but he does overtake Zhou to get rid of that last place. Norris in the meantime is stringing fastest laps together in an attempt to promote his third place to second.
Colapinto again fiercly defends from Piastri, this time into turn 7. At the end of the lap the Argentine driver stops for medium tyres, but his right rear is slow, costing him a few additional tenths.
Further up the order Hamilton closes the gap to Russell, prompting Mercedes to remind the drivers to keep the battle clean. The veteran driver however is not close enough to make a genuine overtaking attempt at the moment.
In the tail of the midfield it is Colapinto who takes the fastest lap from Norris, meaning the Briton will take away just seven points from Verstappen. Verstappen currently is in sixth and does not have the speed to think about an improvement.
Regarding the constructors’ championship, Piastri softens the blow for McLaren by overtaking Nico Hülkenberg for eighth. Team mate Norris is looking to improve to second, as Leclerc is being held up by backmarkers. Norris not so much, meaning the gap has been decreased to a little over a second.
Hamilton in the meantime keeps putting the pressure on his team mate, but Russell doesn’t budge for the moment. The next lap Hamilton tries to make it stick around the outside of turn 5, but can’t hang on.
With ten laps to go Norris is inside Leclerc’s DRS range as he retakes the fastest lap, and thus the additional point. It does however gets decided by Leclerc making a mistake coming through the Peraltada, having a huge moment of power oversteer. The Monegasque driver keeps it out of the wall, but he lost second place.
Russell fiercly defends from Hamilton who finally has a great DRS run, not giving his team mate an inch, and keeping Hamilton behind him. Next lap however Hamilton finally makes the pass into turn 1, earning fourth.
Colapinto and Laswon get together in turn 1, with the RB driver losing a part of his front wing. He pits for for a new nose and some fresh soft tyres. He steals the fastest lap from Norris, but a lap later Leclerc and Pérez both stop for an attempt at the fastest lap.
Carlos Sainz eventually comes around to win from pole, followed by Norris in second. Leclerc brings home third and the fastest lap, from Hamilton, Russell and Verstappen. Magnussen narrowly beats Piastri, from Hülkenberg and Gasly.
