Verstappen won by 19.4 seconds at the end of 69 laps of racing that included a red flag, heading Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly for Alpine.

Lando Norris faltered to finish only sixth while a penalty for Oscar Piastri saw him eighth, one place ahead of Liam Lawson.

Before the race had even go going, Lance Stroll spun on the formation lap.

The Canadian appeared to lock the rear axle braking fort Turn 4, recovering the car before beaching the Aston Martin in the gravel.

It was a slap in the face for the Aston Martin mechanics who’d worked wonders to get Stroll and Fernando Alonso onto the grid following crashes for both in qualifying.

That created chaos on the grid as the start was aborted, much of the field heading off on another formation lap while others, correctly, didn’t. Complicating matters was Franco Colapinto who’d stopped in the wrong grid slot.

Pole sitter Norris got the procedure wrong, and was noted by officials for a start infringement. A host of others, including Lawson, were subsequently noted for following the McLaren driver.

Ultimately it led to a full restart procedure with mechanics back on the grid and another formation lap, completed just as rain began to fall once again.

At the eventual start, George Russell got the jump from second to lead into the first corner, Yuki Tsunoda seeing off Ocon to hold third, pinching Lawson for space which allowed Charles Leclerc through into fifth.

Piastri lost a place to Alonso at Turn 4, but then found his path baulked by Lawson and the McLaren scampered back through.

Midway around the lap there was disaster for Sergio Perez who spun, dropping to the rear of the field.

At the end of the opening lap the order was Russell from Norris, Tsunoda, Ocon, Leclerc, Lawson, Piastri, Alonso, Pierre Gasly, and Verstappen in the top 10.

The race then settled down out front, Norris losing ground to Russell initially before beginning to reel the Mercedes driver in.

Verstappen cleared Gasly into Turn 1 on Lap 5 and quickly latched on to Alonso in eighth, despatching the Spaniard in Lap 7.

Tsunoda in third had fallen away from the leading two, more than three seconds back from Norris.

The RB driver was not under immediate pressure, holding a 1.4s advantage over Ocon who had Leclerc stuck under his rear wing.

Similarly, Lawson had Piastri for company, the Australian being caught by Verstappen.

The Dutchman was flying, lapping a second faster than the McLaren ahead – faster than anyone else on track.

He had much more confidence than Piastri, able and willing to take far more kerb. The Australian was also caught napping into Turn 1 as they started Lap 10.

Verstappen scythed up the inside with ease, the Red Bull Racing far more comfortable under brakes, and immediately pulled clear.

Next up was Lawson, who failed to offer a defence midway around Lap 12.

Just two laps later, Verstappen turned the battle for third into a four-way scrap with Tsunoda, Ocon, and Leclerc.

There his progress halted, Tsunoda just clear of Ocon and Leclerc without an answer to the Alpine ahead.

Up the road, Norris was still pursuing Russell, the top two separated by less than a second after 18 laps.

The McLaren driver had complained of a lack of straight line speed, the team having swapped to a high downforce rear wing ahead of qualifying once it became clear the balance of the weekend would be wet.

After 20 laps, it ran Russell from Norris, then Tsunoda, Ocon, Leclerc, Verstappen, Lawson, Piastri, Gasly, and Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton was having a shocker, battling for grip as he slipped to 15th in the early stages.

At the end of Lap 21, a mistake from Leclerc heading up the hill towards the line allowed Verstappen an opportunity to attack.

The Ferrari driver positioned his car perfectly through the opening sequence to hold on to the place.

Leclerc pulled the trigger on Lap 25, pitting for a new set of intermediate tyres, emerging 12th.

A lap later, a moment for Lawson at Turn 1 dropped the RB driver to ninth.

The rain began to fall more heavily, Hulkenberg going off at Turn 1 on Lap 28 to draw the Virtual Safety Car.

Just before that was deployed, Ocon cleared Tsunoda for third.

The timing of the Virtual Safety Car worked perfectly for Piastri, who boxed for a fresh set of intermediates, leading a train of cars into the lane.

That saw Perez swap to full wets before Hulkenberg was able to get going once more.

As the Virtual Safety Car ended on Lap 29, the race leaders pitted for fresh rubber, both electing for intermediates.

Having remained out, Ocon inherited the lead from Verstappen with Gasly third.

Russell fed out into fourth with Norris fifth, then Tsunoda who’d also stopped.

As that was happening, Piastri was handed a 10-second penalty for nerfing Lawson at Turn 1 on Lap 26.

Conditions continued to deteriorate and, on Lap 30, the Safety Car was deployed due to the rain.

However, not before Norris was able to drive by Russell down the front straight.

Mercedes was in hot water after the squad had changed tyre pressures on the grid while they were fitted to the cars, a breach of the technical regulations.

Under the Safety Car, Colapinto crashed heavily on the front straight to immediately draw the red flag.

The Argentine driver suffered wheelspin out of the final corner, turning him into the unprotected concrete barrier on drivers’ right.

It was a dismal end to a frustrating day for the Grove squad, who’d seen Alex Albon fail to start the race after he crashed in Qualifying (as had Colapinto).

The stoppage was good news for Ocon, Verstappen, and Gasly, none of whom who’d stopped.

Under the red flag, Hulkenberg was excluded from the race for having received external assistance to recover the Haas.

He had been beached in the run-off, on a lip between two sections of tarmac, but was lifted off that by marshals.

Teams were also advised that it would be a rolling restart, the pack headed by Ocon from Verstappen, Gasly, Norris, Russell, Tsunoda, Leclerc, Piastri, Alonso, and Lawson in the top 10.

A little more than 20 minutes after the red flag was shown, the race resumed.

Gasly led the field back to green flag running as Oliver Bearman and Zhou Guanyu slithered off the road at the final corner.

Running fourth, Norris ran wide at Turn 4, losing a spot to Russell in the process.

Two corners later, Leclerc ran deep though managed to hold on to sixth ahead of Piastri.

At the end of the lap, Lap 34, Ocon held a 1.5s advantage over Verstappen, Gasly, Russell, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Tsunoda, Hamilton, and Alonso – the Mercedes driver making the move into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 35.

In the lead, Ocon continued to pull away, extending his advantage to 2.6s next time around.

Bearman had another moment on Lap 36, spinning at Turn 7 to nose into the barrier. He got going again though not before he’d fallen to 16th and last.

The Safety Car was then called for when Carlos Sainz spun into the barrier at Turn 8 on Lap 40.

Racing resumed at the end of Lap 42, Ocon again leading the field to the green flag from Verstappen, Gasly, Russell, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Tsunoda, Hamilton, and Alonso.

The lead Alpine kept the pace low, accelerating only as he reached pit entry.

Verstappen immediately attacked into Turn 1, taking the lead as Norris sprayed it wide and fell to seventh.

It was a busy restart, Hamilton and Alonso running wide to open the door for Lawson to climb to ninth midway around the lap.

The Aston Martin driver had another moment at Juncao, the left-hander onto the long front straight.

It left the order Verstappen from Ocon, Gasly, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri, Norris, Tsunoda, Lawson, and Perez.

On Lap 46, Piastri waved his team-mate through for the second time in the weekend.

Verstappen was flying, setting a sequence of fastest laps as he extended his lead to 3.7s by Lap 48.

A mistake from Piastri on Lap 51 left him vulnerable to Tsunoda, though fended off the RB into Turn 1.

The McLaren driver had run-off the road at Juncao after locking a brake, rejoining but having lost momentum and around three seconds in the process.

A battle soon developed between Lawson and Perez, banging wheels through Turn 1 on Lap 55 as they scrapped over ninth.

A mistake from the Mexican then opened the door for Hamilton to steal 10th.

Soon, Lawson was under pressure from the Mercedes driver, who made a mistake on Lap 59 and became vulnerable to Perez through the middle of the lap.

Hamilton held on, just, to remain in the final points-paying position.

Having survived that, the seven-time champion soon turned the pressure back up on Lawson ahead.

Out front, Verstappen was in a class of his own, having extended a 14.1s advantage over Ocon.

With Gasly third, it promised an exceptional day for Alpine with a huge haul of points in the constructors’ championship – the squad on course to climb from ninth to sixth in that competition.

In the closing laps, Hamilton continued to harry Lawson, though the young New Zealander was resolute and held on to secure ninth place.

The race, however, belonged to Verstappen.

The championship leader drove home his points advantage with a brilliant drive from 17th on the grid to win by 19 seconds.

He headed Ocon and Gasly in an equally sensational performance from Alpine, with Russell fourth – with a question mark over his head.

The came Leclerc, Norris, Piastri, Tsunoda, Lawson, Hamilton, and Perez in 11th.

However, that became eighth for Piastri as a 10-second penalty, for punting Lawson, was added to his race time, dropping him behind Tsunoda.

The results remain provisional with a raft of post-race investigations to be carried out, including into Norris.

That could see Verstappen’s 62-point advantage over Norris grow as he placed one hand on his fourth championship title.