The Overview II

It had taken a mere instant for Mercedes to lose their chance for a perfect season, for Nico Rosberg to push his win streak to 8 victories in a row, and for Lewis Hamilton to kickstart his miserable season. No matter. The on-track action over the next two hours would make up for those bookmarks with a Grand Prix for the ages.

The collision put the Red Bull of Daniel Riccardo comfortably in the lead ahead of teammate Max Verstappen; Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari closely shadowing Verstappen in third place as he sized up the youngster for weaknesses. He found none. Raikkonen trailed three seconds behind in fourth with Bottas fifth, Sainz 6th and Perez 7th.

The leaders began pitting for tires on Lap 12. Riccardo was first; Verstappen on Lap 13 with Vettel waiting until 16. They remained in this cat and mouse pattern until Lap 28 when Red Bull pitted Ricciardo; he would be on a three stopper. Vettel pitted a lap later for soft tyres. Red Bull left Verstappen out on the mediums until Lap 35; Ferrari covered that strategy with Raikkonen’s staying on his mediums. Verstappen’s assignment was clear but nearly impossible: try to reach the finish on his mediums while holding off Vettel.

Vettel took on medium tires again on Lap 38 that he would run to the flag. Vettel was now ahead of Ricciardo, who had led most of the race, but found himself pushed down to fourth on the road after the stops. He spent the remaining laps fighting to pass Vettel despite having a quicker car.