Kiwi F1 racer Liam Lawson suffered heartbreak after a turn-one incident, while Max Verstappen kept his title hopes alive heading into the final two race weekends.
The race exploded into action with a chaotic opening lap filled with overtakes, collisions, and spins through a frantic turn one.
Liam Lawson launched with strong pace, but his momentum was disrupted when George Russell locked up just ahead of him on the run into turn one. Forced to jink right to avoid the Mercedes, Lawson clipped Oscar Piastri, sending the Australian slightly off-line.
As Piastri recovered and dropped behind Lawson, Isack Hadjar capitalised perfectly, sweeping around the left to overtake both and grab fifth place.
Further ahead, Max Verstappen muscled past Lando Norris on the exit of turn one to seize the early lead. Russell, having gathered up his lock-up, immediately went on the attack and engaged Norris for second, ultimately claiming the position a few corners later.
Further back, the drama only intensified. Gabriel Bortoleto made contact with Lance Stroll before spinning into the middle of the track, forcing those behind to scatter in avoidance. Pierre Gasly was also tipped the wrong way in the chaos.
Stroll and Bortoleto limped back to the pits, Gasly able to continue with only minor damage — as marshals darted onto the circuit to clear scattered debris. A local yellow quickly escalated into a Virtual Safety Car due to the hazardous conditions.
Stroll was retired immediately, while Kick Sauber worked on Bortoleto’s car for several laps before ultimately calling it a day.
Lawson, meanwhile, was battling the aftermath of his turn-one contact. His front wing had been severely damaged, and after a couple of laps it began to drag beneath the car, costing him positions and leaving him no choice but to pit for a new nose and fresh tyres. He rejoined down in 18th.
By Lap 12, Charles Leclerc was charging through the field with purpose. He dispatched Oscar Piastri first, then closed rapidly on Isack Hadjar, overtaking the French-Algerian two laps later to climb into fifth as his surge continued.
Up front, Max Verstappen maintained control of the race, building an early buffer of a couple of seconds. George Russell responded soon after, stringing together fastest laps as he attempted to reel the Red Bull back in.
Behind them, Kimi Antonelli’s alternate strategy came undone early. Having started on the soft tyres, he was handed a five-second penalty for creeping forward before the lights went out.
Lewis Hamilton produced one of the strongest opening laps of anyone, rising from 19th to 12th. But once he reached Alex Albon, progress stalled.
When Hamilton finally made a move, Albon ran into the side of him, damaging the Williams as Hamilton claimed the position. Albon was forced into two consecutive pit stops as the team attempted repairs, dropping him to the rear of the field.
On Lap 16, the Virtual Safety Car was deployed so marshals could clear debris from a separate collision. When racing resumed a lap later, Piastri immediately went on the attack, reclaiming sixth place from Hadjar with a decisive move.
Verstappen, one of the final front-runners to begin on medium tyres, extended his opening stint longer than the rest of the top half of the grid. After he finally stopped, he rejoined more than a second ahead of Russell and immediately began pumping in purple sectors as his tyres came up to temperature.
Further back, Franco Colapinto’s tough afternoon continued. He dropped behind the pack early, and after pitting he rejoined behind Lawson — promoting the Kiwi to 16th despite his own early setback. Colapinto boxed again soon after, slipping back to 18th.
Russell managed second place for the majority of the race, but Lando Norris came alive on his hard-tyre stint. With growing confidence, Norris closed rapidly and on Lap 34 executed a bold move around the outside, securing second place as they approached the chicanes.
Albon’s troubles only worsened. Lingering damage slowed him further, and after another pit stop, Williams retired the car, ending his race.
Lawson climbed back to 16th again soon after, gaining renewed pace from his latest pit stop. With ten laps remaining, he closed in on Franco Colapinto and made the move stick, reclaiming the position.
At the front, Verstappen continued to stretch his advantage, pushing the margin beyond five seconds while Norris set a string of fastest laps in a late attempt to chase him down.
Ultimately, Verstappen proved untouchable, taking victory by a dominant 19 seconds. Norris converted pole into a solid second place, while Russell crossed the line a further three seconds back to secure the final podium spot. Behind them, Antonelli slipped from fourth to fifth once his early five-second penalty was applied.
After the turn-one chaos that derailed his start, Lawson recovered strongly to finish seventh, with teammate Hadjar also scoring points in eighth.
The win keeps Verstappen firmly in the title fight, narrowing the gap to just 10 points behind Piastri, who holds second in the standings.
Formula 1 now heads to Qatar for the penultimate round of the season, with the Grand Prix set for Monday, December 1 at 5am NZT.
Header Image: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
