And there was tension in Ferrari as the team refused first, and then Lewis Hamilton’s request allowed his past teammate Charles Leclerc when he raced at Divergent Tire Strategies.
Hamilton was forced to try Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes before him, but failed to catch the Italian or pull well ahead of Leclair.
The first stint of the race was packed with drama in the front. Verstappen ran deep into the first corner, and Norris tried to pass him on the next curve.
However, Verstappen shook towards him, and Norris drove off on track, losing his place to Williams of Antonelli, Piastri, Russell and Alex Albon.
Norris accused Verstappen of getting him back on track, but the steward decided that the movement was legal and that he would not take action.
So both McLaren drivers had to make up for the ground to snatch the race victory from Verstappen.
Front, Piastri boldly passed Antoneri past the final part of the esses of the first sector of the rap, before departing after Verstappen.
By lap 8, Piastri was on Verstappen’s tail and began to think about how to pass through Red Bull.
Verstappen repeatedly defended inside, forcing Piastri to the outside, and McLaren wasn’t far enough to insist on the corner.
After a few attempts, Piastri eventually made it on lap 14. Burstappen once again defended inside the final corner.
The piastry tried the outside again to turn 1. This time Verstappen went too deep and ran big, and Piastri cut off the corner exit and pinched it.
Their fight allowed Norris to approach them after wasting some time between him and his leader.
Norris passed Verstappen on lap 17 by flying outwards to turn 11, but he had to get back on track by doing so and get back in place.
However, after the lap he made a simple move. This time, after feeling the game, it seemed he didn’t mind defending.
Verstappen quickly returned from McLarens and lost nine seconds a few laps before the pit stop.
World Champion Day got worse when Virtual Safety Cars (VSCs) were deployed during the pit stop period.
Russell, the only driver to start a hard tyre like Hamilton in the top 10, has not stopped yet, and VSC allowed him to pit fresh tyres and rejoin Verstappen ahead of him.
For a while, Verstappen closed to Russell, but was unable to approach within about 1.8 seconds before making any further progress.
Norris was also closed on the piastry in front, but after halving the deficit by 4 seconds, the Australian increased his pace, showing that he had time and led him comfortably to the end.
This is the first time a McLaren driver has won three consecutive races since Mika Hakkinen during the 1997-98 season.
Piastri’s victory extended the championship lead over Norris to 16 points, with Verstappen taking the same margin in third place.
