Verstappen conquers a hard-earned victory and allows Red Bull to win the fifth constructors' championship in its history. Hamilton and Leclerc complete the podium, retirement for Sainz. Below is the story of the race
Ready go e Verstappen overtakes Sainz for race leadership. Unfortunately, the Spaniard's race lasts as long as his first place: one bend. Russell hits the spot the number 55 and forces him to training camp, receiving 5 second penalty.
Leclerc he climbs back from the 12th box at the start and after 12 laps he is already in sixth position. In front of him, in addition to the Red Bulls and the Mercedes, there is an excellent driver Stroll. After a few rounds the withdrawal of Bottas brings out the safety car and the Monegasque took the opportunity to make a "free pit stop" and rejoin in fourth position.
On lap 21 the race restarted and the leading riders maintained their positions, but behind a very violent bang involves Alonso and Stroll. Future Aston Martin teammates are involved in an accident that forces the Canadian to retire, while the Spaniard gets away with a broken wing after being in mid-air.
After four laps behind the safety car the race resumed and Leclerc he hunts for Perez for the third position, while Hamilton try not to give up Verstappen for the first. The number 16 manages to take the position on the number 11 with a textbook maneuver at the end of the main straight.
On lap 35 Hamilton he returns to the pits for his second stop of the day and puts on a set of hard tyres. On to the next round Verstappen pits but a long stop makes him slip 4 seconds behind Hamilton and immediately behind Leclerc.
After a spectacular fight, the world champion got the better of the Ferrari driver and moved into third position behind Hamilton and Hag which, not yet pitted, is leader of the Grand Prix. At the time of the pit stop, he loses a lot of time and rejoins the track outside the points zone.
Verstappen manages to mend the gap against a Hamilton who knows he has the only chance of the year to win a race and returns to the W13 exhaust with 7 laps to go. Max manages to pass Lewis but the seven-time world champion does not give up and remains one second behind the number 1.
After 56 thrilling laps, Verstappen gets his 13th win of the season, equaling the record by Schumacher and Vettel. A great Hamilton he finishes in second position, so close but so far from that victory that he has been missing for almost a year.
Third Leclerc who conquers the fifth consecutive podium (in his career he had always stopped at four) and returns to second in the world championship. Just off the podium Perez e Russell. Norris, Alonso, Vettel, Magnussen and Tsunoda close the top 10. For the Japanese driver it is the first point since the Spanish Grand Prix, held in May.
With the points from Verstappen's victory and Perez's fourth place, Red Bull conquers the fifth constructors' championship in its history. Dietrich Mateschitz would certainly be proud of it.
