As Lap 8 ticked down, Verstappen continued to lead from Piastri, Antonelli, Norris, Russell – who looked to be struggling with his hard tyres – Sainz, Albon, Leclerc, Tsunoda and Ocon. It did not take long for that to change again, as Norris soon gained another position by getting past Antonelli.
There was heart-in-mouth moment for Alonso, who suffered a spin at the same corner where he crashed in Saturday’s Sprint – but fortunately managed to avoid the walls on this occasion. Back up front, further tense scenes were playing out as Piastri set about trying to overtake Verstappen, having closed right in on the Red Bull.
Two attempts on Lap 11 fell short, with Verstappen told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to “stay on the inside” and “make him work for it”. All of this was allowing Norris, meanwhile, to chase down the leading two cars. “It’s super slippery to drive,” Verstappen reported, seemingly in reference to the tyres.
Piastri could wait no longer on Lap 14. After the papaya car was initially forced wide, backing out of a move, Verstappen then out-braked himself and went wide in the process, which allowed Piastri to cut back through to become the new race leader.
And just one lap later there was a sense of déjà vu for Verstappen as Norris closed in on the World Champion – but this time a move around the outside of Turn 1 did not work for the Briton, leading the McLaren team to coach him over the radio on how Piastri found a way past.
