Following a flurry of pit lane action and another set of fastest laps by the race leader, Norris held an advantage of almost 10 seconds over Verstappen, Leclerc a further six seconds back in third, Russell a further four seconds adrift and Piastre outpacing. Mercedes driver.
Stroll was given a five-second penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane, with Gasley and Alpine taking no further action due to near misses. At the entry line.
Continuing to make good use of his new tyres, Piastre went around the outside of Russell at Turn 1 to move up to fourth, while the still-unstoppable Magnussen in the midfield was ridden by Alphonse, Gasly, Alonso and Surfing. Bank the final corner in a dramatic sequence.
Gasley won a wheel-to-wheel scrap with Alban at the first turn, with the latter lamenting on the radio that he felt a „dangerous” situation. Alonso and Stroll soon passed the Williams man as well, while Magnussen finally stopped on fresh tyres.
On lap 45, Norris extended his lead to 12 seconds, Verstappen managed a gap to Leclerc, Piastre chased down the Ferrari and Russell took fifth. Seconds earlier, Perez had his hands full on defense against Sainz, who was looking left, right and center.