In a race dominated by tyres and strategy, Hamilton swept past Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to take second place and stay 30 points clear in the standings. Six-time world champion Hamilton, who gained an extra point for the fastest lap, also equalled Ferrari great Michael Schumacher’s record of 155 career podium finishes.

“I didn’t see it coming. However, after the first stint, it seemed like we were really good on tyres,” said Verstappen as he celebrated his ninth win, which left him with 77 points to Hamilton’s 107. “Of course, there was a question mark on how Mercedes was going to go on the hard tyre. We had a lot of pace in the car and I didn’t really have a lot of tyre issues. We just kept pushing.”

Bottas dropped to third overall on 73 points after starting on pole position. Mercedes had won the four previous races, and taken every pole, but Verstappen was alone among the top 10 on the grid to start on the hard tyres and it paid off.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Alexander Albon and the Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg. Renault’s Esteban Ocon was eighth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris ninth and Russian Daniil Kvyat taking the final point for AlphaTauri.