George Russell spun in the pit lane and Kimi Antonelli received a time penalty while Lando Norris drove.
Max Verstappen made speedy progress from the back of the grid after starting alongside Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton progressed faster initially, reaching ninth by lap two, but Verstappen soon passed the Ferrari and continued forward. By lap 10, Verstappen sat in a remarkable sixth place right behind the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson, while Isack Hadjar chased Russell.
Russell dashed his own hopes when he stopped on lap 16 simultaneously with Norris and spun in the pit lane exit. The spin occurred on the inside of the track mirroring the run through the Senna S first two corners.
Russell sat broadside in the pit lane as rivals squeezed past him left and right before he straightened his car and rejoined the race down in 10th, according to bbc.co.uk reporting.
After his pit lane incident, Russell drove well with strong pace to put himself back in contention, turning a fourth-place finish into a strong result under the circumstances. He showed more pace than Antonelli in the closing laps, prompting the team to order them to swap positions as they sealed their ninth constructors’ title and first since 2021, bbc.co.uk reported.
Both Antonelli and Charles Leclerc received five-second time penalties by the stewards for separate incidents after the race. Antonelli’s penalty for an unsafe release did not affect his fifth-place finish. However, Ferrari’s Leclerc dropped from seventh to eighth for causing a collision late on with Racing Bulls’ driver Liam Lawson, who was promoted to seventh.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished sixth, nowhere near Norris’ pace, while Lewis Hamilton took ninth. The seven-time champion was unable to make up any ground following his rapid start, as he struggled for speed even though he made the right call to pit early for slicks, bbc.co.uk reported.
Hamilton had stayed ahead of Leclerc for a large portion of the grand prix, but lost position to him during their second round of stops for slicks, whereas Leclerc successfully transitioned to intermediates to secure his spot.
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg took the final point for 10th place.
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