Lando Norris claimed his third grand prix victory of 2026 ahead of the two Red Bull drivers.
The pole-winner lost the lead of the race to Andrea Kimi Antonelli immediately after the start. However he returned to the front of the field when Antonelli spun off under pressure from the McLaren on lap 20.The race began on a track wet enough for all the drivers to choose the intermediate tyres. It dried out over the course of the 71 laps and Lewis Hamilton triggered the field’s switch to softs on lap 15.
For the second year in a row, Max Verstappen climbed from the penultimate place on the grid to finish second. He did not make as much progress on the first lap as Hamilton, who started one place ahead of him, but the Ferrari driver’s pace was not as strong.
Verstappen soon worked his way past Hamilton and went on to clear Oscar Piastri and Alexander Albon. After the field switched to slicks he got onto the tail of his team mate, whom Red Bull immediately instructed to get out of the way.
Although Verstappen’s pace was not quick enough for him to pull away, he gained ground after pitting early for a second set of tyres. The rain returned late in the race and Verstappen nearly pulled off a perfectly-timed switch to intermediates. He opted to wait a lap, however, by which time his rivals had started to come in.
The rain intensified over the final laps and Verstappen briefly cut a chunk out of Norris’s lead. The McLaren driver responded, however, and took the chequered flag 14 seconds ahead of his rival. Hadjar completed the podium.
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Antonelli appeared to be heading for victory as he pulled clear of the field in the opening laps. But he struggled badly with his car’s handling after his first pit stop, leading to his spin in front of Norris.
The Red Bull drivers passed him over the following laps. Switching to intermediates at the end of the race brought George Russell onto his tail, and with Antonelli facing an investigation for an unsafe release in the pits, Mercedes opted to swap them.
Russell therefore took fourth place despite losing a huge amount of time when he spun in the pit lane exit after his first pit stop. Like Antonelli earlier in the race, Russell was mystified by his car’s strange handling after his last pit stop. But with neither Ferrari finishing inside the top six, Mercedes easily did enough to secure the constructors’ championship title.
Oscar Piastri never had his team mate’s pace and finished almost a minute behind in sixth place. Charles Leclerc passed Liam Lawson on the penultimate lap but made contact with the Racing Bulls at Juncao as he did, which the stewards will investigate.
Hamilton unlapped himself from Norris at one stage in the race but finished a lap down in ninth place. He initially tried to stay out when the rain returned, but spun on the high-speed approach to the pits, and resigned himself to the inevitable.
Nico Hulkenberg claimed the final point after serving a 10-second time penalty for gaining an advantage off the track at the first corner. He led home Arvid Lindblad and Fernando Alonso, the latter having been first to call the switch to intermediates at the end of the race.
Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin retired again. Poor Valtteri Bottas didn’t even get to start the race after a wheel became stuck on his car on the grid.
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