What we got instead was a dramatic rollercoaster of changing weather, surprise shunts, and Lando Norris finally standing tallest when the chequered flag fell.
From pole position to top step, Norris claimed a victory that was anything but straightforward. There were skirmishes in the rain, spins in the sun, and a final act worthy of a Hollywood script. In between, the McLaren pit wall held its breath more than once, as did most of us watching from our couches.
The drama began almost immediately under damp skies, with Norris leading the field through Turn 1. Behind him, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen gave chase, their tyres slicing through puddles as the circuit slowly dried. McLaren looked to have the 1-2 stitched up by half distance, the cars dancing on the edge of adhesion as the track tempted a switch to slicks.
Just when everyone had made the leap to dry-weather tyres and found a groove, the heavens reopened. Not a drizzle, but a curtain of water.
Norris and Piastri (then still running first and second) both skated off into the grass, the orange cars looking more like speedboats than Formula 1 machinery. While Norris recovered with a momentary clench of everything, Piastri wasn’t so lucky. A spin at the penultimate corner left him floundering, watching valuable seconds (and places) slip away.
With the McLarens off-script, Verstappen surged into the lead, slicks still strapped on in the soaking conditions. It was a gamble, and for a few moments, it looked like the reigning champion might have pulled off another stroke of Red Bull magic.
But even Max isn’t immune to physics. He, too, had to pit, ceding the lead back to Norris, who had managed the chaos like a seasoned poker player with a royal flush hidden up his sleeve.
And then, the final twist. A Safety Car, thanks to rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in the Sauber and Liam Lawson in the Red Bull both binning it on opposite ends of the circuit, bunched the field up for one last showdown.
Verstappen, now on the right tyres, was lurking. DRS enabled. Eyes locked on Norris. Yet, Norris wasn’t cracking. In treacherous conditions and with the world champion breathing down his neck, the Brit kept it tidy, composed. And this time, Lando had both in spades.
As he crossed the line, he let out a cheer over the radio that echoed the relief of a man who had waited far too long to feel this kind of elation again.
Behind him, George Russell made the most of the day’s chaos, sliding into P3 for Mercedes. The ever-impressive Alex Albon also had his moment in the sun, dragging his Williams into contention with a drive that was equal parts grit and finesse.
Then came Kimi Antonelli, the teenage rookie for Mercedes, driving like he’d been doing this for years. A post-race penalty reversal bumped him up to fourth, while Lance Stroll claimed sixth for Aston Martin.
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari had a subdued afternoon, salvaging eighth behind Nico Hülkenberg’s steady run in the Sauber. Piastri, after his earlier excursion, regrouped for ninth, while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the points in tenth, his late-race gamble on slicks offering a fleeting moment of brilliance before the inevitable switch back to wets.
Behind the points, there was carnage. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda were both left frustrated in eleventh and twelfth. The Haas boys, Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, were caught out by their own tyre indecision, dropping like stones through the field when the rain hit.
And then, the retirement roll. Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin snapped out mid-race in a hefty crash. Carlos Sainz’s return to Williams ended in heartbreak early on, while Alpine rookie Jack Doohan never really got going.
The most gut-wrenching image of the day, however, belonged to Racing Bulls newcomer Isack Hadjar, crashing out on the formation lap at Turn 1 and slumped against the barriers, helmet in hands. A brutal start to his F1 career.
Photo Credits: All images used in this article belong to the official Formula One Content Pool
Read more content at Burnpavement, or check out our latest videos on YouTube and on TikTok!
