Race report
Polesitter Oscar Piastri (McLaren) held his lead at the start, moving across the track to block his teammate Lando Norris. This disadvantaged Norris into the opening Tarzanbocht corner, and allowed Max Verstappen (Red Bull) to challenge around the outside. Norris initially held the position, before Verstappen successfully passed him around the outside of Gerlachbocht despite struggling to control to the car and putting two wheels on the grass as the drivers entered the banked Hugenholtzbocht turn. Behind, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) held his career-best starting position of fourth, whilst Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was able to pass George Russell (Mercedes) to take fifth. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), who had started 13th, struggled to pull away from his grid slot and dropped to 19th, with his troubles being worsened by front wing damage sustained from contact with Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) through the Hans Ernst Bocht chicane. [17]
Verstappen, who was running soft tyres, was repassed by Norris around the outside of Tarzanbocht at the start of lap 9, and struggled to keep up with the Mclarens. As the first stint of the race continued, drivers reported light rain over the team radio, but not at a level which would necessitate the use of intermediate tyres. On lap 22, Leclerc became the first leading driver to pit, switching from the medium to hard tyre and rejoining in tenth place. Moments after Leclerc left the pit lane, his teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed heavily at Hugenholtzbocht leading to the safety car being deployed. This disadvantaged Leclerc, as the mandatory slowed pace of the safety car allowed Russell to make his pit stop and rejoin ahead. Both McLaren's pitted together, which led to Norris having a slightly slow stop, although Norris had a sufficent gap to Verstappen to maintain second. The race returned to green flag running at the end of lap 27, with Piastri maintaining his lead over Norris. Further back, Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) attempted to pass Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) for seventh around the outside of Tarzanbocht. The pair made contact and both sustained punctures, with both drivers dropping a lap down after pitting for repairs. The stewards gave Sainz a ten-second penalty for causing the collision, which he voiced his disagreement with over the team radio. [17]
On lap 31, the virtual safety car (VSC) was briefly deployed to clear debris from the track. When the VSC was withdrawn the following lap, Leclerc reacted quicker than Russell, and challenged the Mercedes driver around the outside of Hans Ernst Bocht. Leclerc dipped the left side of his car in the gravel trap, and made contract with Russell, but successfully completed the overtake. Russell, who sustained light damage in the incident, challenged Leclerc with the assistance of DRS as the pair began lap 33, before settling in behind. Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli was making strong progress and passed Alexander Albon (Williams) for seventh place, with Mercedes then instructing Russell to wave Antonelli through for sixth on lap 41. At the end of lap 51, Antonelli became the first leading driver to make a second pitstop for soft tyres, with Leclerc doing the same a lap later to avoid being undercut. Leclerc rejoined in seventh, just ahead of Antonelli, who immediately attempted to pass Leclerc down the inside of Hugenholtzbocht. As Antonelli attempted this pass, his front-right tyre made contact with Leclerc's rear-left, causing Leclerc to spin and heavily crash into the barrier. [17]
Following Leclerc's crash, the safety car was deployed, and Antonelli was given a ten-second penalty for causing the collision. The leading McLarens immediately pitted for hard tyres, with the third to sixth placed drivers of Verstappen, Hadjar, Russell and Albon taking softs. The race resumed at the end of lap 57. On lap 65, Norris's car started to emit smoke, and he quickly began to slow before pulling over on the exit of Mastersbocht, causing the safety car to be deployed for a third time. The race resumed again on lap 68, with Piastri comfortably completing the final laps to take his seventh Grand Prix win of the season, and the ninth of his career; McLaren took their 12th win of the season, [18] [19] whilst Verstappen continued his 100% podium record at his home race by finishing second, and Hadjar took his first Grand Prix podium by finishing third. [20] This was Racing Bulls's first podium under their current name, and their first since Pierre Gasly finished third at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which the team competed in as AlphaTauri. [21]
Oscar Piastri 
