The VSC costs Norris a race he had under control

Lando Norris had done the hardest part. After keeping the lead at the start, the polesitter had built a gap of around five seconds over Antonelli. But when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, Norris had already passed the pit entry. Antonelli and Verstappen could stop at reduced time loss; Norris had to complete another lap, and the VSC ended before he could benefit from the same window.

A slow stop made the damage worse: Norris rejoined fifth, behind Leclerc, Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell. He recovered to finish third, 5.089 seconds behind the winner, but could not pass Verstappen. Norris believes his weekend was good enough to deserve victory. The result matters in the standings too: the reigning champion is now 106 points behind Antonelli.