Verstappen's start-to-finish victory

This is the 22nd race victory of the 24-year-old driver and the second race of the season.

Behind the defending champion, his teammate, Mexican Sergio Pérez, finished in second place, while Lando Norris, competing with McLaren, finished in third place.

During the 63-lap race, in accordance with the final result of Saturday's sprint race, Verstappen started from the front on temporary rain tires on the wet but already drying asphalt strip. After the start, the Dutchman was joined by his teammate Sergio Pérez in second place, followed by Lando Norris (McLaren). In the third corner, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) collided, the former's race ended in the gravel bed, and the latter - who pushed his rival - continued from last place.

After the safety car phase, Verstappen steadily increased his advantage at the front, and the main question was who would be the first driver to put on the dry tires. Behind the Dutchman were Pérez, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Norris, surprisingly Kevin Magnussen, racing with Haas, was fifth, but Mercedes' George Russell continuously attacked him with a good race pace, and finally overtook the Dane.

First, Ricciardo replaced the temporary rain tires with dry ones, and since he immediately ran the fastest lap up to that point, the others also entered the pit lane. The order at the top and points-scoring places did not change either, Verstappen led with a confident advantage.

The public could see some overtaking after the 35th lap, when the marshals allowed the drivers to open the rear wings. Verstappen soon overtook seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, racing with Mercedes, with whom he fought for the World Cup title last year until the last lap of the last race.

In the 54th lap, Leclerc, who was in third place and the leader in the World Cup points race, made a mistake, spun and crashed into the rubber wall, and due to a damaged front wing, he had to drive into the pits. This dropped him to ninth place, and in the end he finished only sixth, while Norris took the podium.

Verstappen - since he also had the fastest lap - reduced his deficit in the overall points race by 18 points compared to his Ferrari rival.

The season continues in two weeks with the now-debut city Miami Grand Prix.

(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)