Following that flurry of pit lane activity, and another phase of rapid laps from the race leader, Norris held an advantage of almost 10 seconds over Verstappen, with Leclerc six seconds further back in third, Russell another four seconds adrift and Piastri rapidly closing in on the Mercedes driver.
While Gasly and Alpine avoided any further action over their near-miss, Stroll was hit with a five-second time penalty after he was found to have broken the speed limit in the pit lane – replays showing him locking up and failing to slow down sufficiently at the entry line.
Continuing to put his new tyres to good use, Piastri went around the outside of Russell at Turn 1 and rose to fourth, while back in the midfield, the yet-to-stop Magnussen got swamped by Albon, Gasly, Alonso and Stroll around the banked final corner in a dramatic sequence.
Gasly went on to win a wheel-to-wheel scrap with Albon into the first turn, with the latter lamenting what he felt was a “dangerous” situation over the radio. Alonso and Stroll soon worked their way past the Williams man as well, while Magnussen finally stopped for new tyres.
By Lap 45, Norris had increased his lead to 12 seconds, with Verstappen managing the gap to Leclerc, Piastri chasing the Ferrari and Russell holding fifth. A few seconds back, Perez had his hands full defending against Sainz, who was looking left, right and centre for a pass.
