Before the madcap final laps, Verstappen had pressured the McLarens throughout with Red Bull’s strategy.
The Dutchman took second place from Norris into the first corner, after the Briton made a slow start but, after initially pressuring Piastri on the first lap, the McLaren began to pull away as Verstappen started to struggle with his tyres.
Soon, Norris was on Verstappen’s tail and passed him on lap 13, using the DRS overtaking aid down the main straight, and Verstappen made his first stop on the following lap.
McLaren stuck to their two-stop guns, leaving Norris and Piastri out for a further seven and eight laps.
When Verstappen stopped again on lap 29, McLaren knew he was on a three-stop strategy. He soon regained the third place he had lost to Leclerc and began closing on the McLarens in front of him.
Norris, about three to four seconds back from Piastri most of the time, held Verstappen four seconds behind.
And when the Red Bull pitted for the third time on lap 47, McLaren responded with first Norris and then Piastri on subsequent laps.
After the pit stops, the three were running nose to tail, but Piastri began to edge away from Norris, who likewise distanced himself from Verstappen before the safety car intervened.
Behind Russell, Nico Hulkenberg scored a great result for Sauber by passing Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari for fifth place after the restart.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took seventh from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and Fernando Alonso fought back from running off track into the gravel in the first stint – after locking up a front brake into Turn Five – to claim his first points of the season with ninth place, ahead of Verstappen.
