Hamilton went on to take P5 from Piastre as he looked to close the gap on team-mate Russell – but Russell, meanwhile, was said to have an “asymmetry” in his front section. Another driver in trouble was Colapinto, who reported steering problems as he tried to hold off Magnussen in the battle for P9.
On lap 40, Piastre and Lawson made pit stops for the harder tyre, with only Colapinto, Bottas, Ocon and Chow going to the pits. Above, the sky looked increasingly gray – and Russell soon reported tiny raindrops in his sights.
At the top, Sainz leads Leclerc by six seconds, while Norris has a deficit of less than five seconds to Leclerc as the Briton tries to increase his points tally with Verstappen in sixth. Perez, meanwhile, used another set of medium tires again.
Norris pumped the fastest lap of the race on lap 47, the gap to Leclerc had dropped to more than four seconds, and team-mate Piastre was busy trying to find a way past Colapinto for ninth – before the Australian was let go. Williams finally went to the pits. A slightly slower stop brought him into P15.
Hamilton chased down Russell for fourth, with the latter both said to be “free to race”. The scrap extended 12 seconds on the road from Verstappen in sixth, while Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Piastri and Gasly made up the final top 10 runners.
