Pre-season testing had established that Red Bull Racing had closed substantially on Mercedes, the dominant constructor of the previous seven seasons. Honda, Red Bull's engine supplier, had brought forward a more compact and powerful unit originally intended for 2022, motivated by their announced withdrawal from Formula One at the end of 2021. Mercedes, by contrast, had been adversely affected by regulation changes targeting the "low-rake" floor design their cars had used.
The race saw three Formula One debuts: Yuki Tsunoda for AlphaTauri, Mick Schumacher for Haas, and Nikita Mazepin also for Haas. Schumacher was the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Haas had announced before the season that development of their 2021 car had been abandoned in favour of focusing on the 2022 regulation changes.
Max Verstappen took pole position with a lap of 1:28.997, his fourth career pole. Hamilton qualified second and Bottas third, with Charles Leclerc an impressive fourth in the Ferrari. Sergio Pérez, on his debut for Red Bull, failed to reach Q3 when his team gambled on medium tyres in Q2, placing eleventh. Sebastian Vettel was knocked out in Q1 during an incident caused by Mazepin's spin, and subsequently received a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow adequately for yellow flags shown after Mazepin's second spin, starting from last.
Pérez stopped on the formation lap, requiring a second formation lap and shortening the race from 57 to 56 laps; he started from the pit lane and recovered to fifth. Verstappen led away from the start and held off Hamilton through the opening laps. Mazepin, in his debut, spun at turn 3 and crashed on the exit, bringing out the safety car until the end of lap 3.
Strategies separated from the start. Hamilton pitted for hard tyres on lap 14; Verstappen stayed out four laps longer. Verstappen rejoined seven seconds behind but on fresher rubber with 16 laps remaining and closed rapidly. On lap 51 he attacked Hamilton at turn 4, completing the overtake around the outside but going off the track. Verstappen was instructed to hand the position back and did so between turns 10 and 11. He then suffered oversteer caused by dirty air from the Mercedes on the exit of turn 13, losing significant time as his car stepped out. Hamilton pulled away in the closing laps and Verstappen could not close again before the end.
Hamilton won in 1:32:03.897. Verstappen finished 0.745 seconds behind in second. Bottas was third after a pit stop for fresh tyres at the end, setting the fastest lap of 1:32.090 on lap 56.
The race generated significant post-race debate over track limits at turn 4. A pre-race instruction had indicated that limits at that corner would only be enforced where a lasting advantage was gained — interpreted by the stewards as meaning only overtaking off-track was prohibited. Post-race analysis showed Hamilton had gained nearly three seconds at the corner over the race, worth at least 0.1 seconds per lap, without sanction while running wide 29 times. Verstappen had been told on lap 32 that Hamilton was exceeding track limits and that he could do likewise. Race director Michael Masi insisted the rules had been clear throughout.
Fernando Alonso's Alpine retired on lap 32 with brake issues caused by a sandwich wrapper lodged in a brake duct. Yuki Tsunoda scored championship points on his debut in ninth, drawing high praise from within the sport. The three-way midfield battle on lap 23 between Sainz, Vettel, and Alonso for eighth place was widely noted as among the race's highlights.
| Pos | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Gap | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | 1:32:03.897 | | 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 56 | +0.745s | | 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 56 | +37.383s | | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | +46.466s | | 5 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull-Honda | 56 | +52.047s | | 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | +59.090s |
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