Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[8]
Practice
Three practice sessions for the Grand Prix were held, each one hour in length. The first practice session took place on 17 June, at 14:00 local time (UTC−04:00).[9] The session ended with no major incidents. Early in the session, Esteban Ocon got a paper towel lodged in his brake duct and was forced to return to the pits.[10]Alexander Albon, Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi all missed turn 12 corner and retreated to the escape road in separate incidents. All four were unscathed and carried on. Championship leader, Max Verstappen was fastest, with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Fernando Alonso in second and third, respectively.[11]
The second practice session took place on 17 June at 17:00 local time.[9]Charles Leclerc stopped at the exit of the pitlane because of issues with his turbocharger.[12] After the session, Leclerc would require a change of turbo, resulting in a 10-place grid drop for exceeding his allocation of turbos.[13]Sebastian Vettel was released into the path of Magnussen in the pit lane. The FIA deemed the release to be unsafe and Aston Martin team was fined €5,000.[14] Sainz was also released into the path of Lando Norris, but the FIA did not feel it was unsafe. Verstappen was once again fastest, with Leclerc and Sainz in second and third, respectively.[15]
The third practice session was held at 13:00 local time on 18 June.[9] Rain meant the drivers were completing laps on the wet and intermediate tyres throughout the session. Yuki Tsunoda, Magnussen and Vettel all went off at turn 1, while Verstappen spun onto the grass at turn 2.[16] Sainz took to the escape road at turn 3 and used the run off at turn 8. Alonso was fastest, with Pierre Gasly and Vettel in second and third respectively.[17]
Qualifying
Qualifying report
Qualifying took place at 16:00 local time on 18 June, and lasted for one hour.[9] The whole session was conducted with water on the track and so all drivers used the wet and intermediate tyres to complete their laps, with the exception of George Russell who changed to slick tyres in the latter stages of qualifying.
The second section of qualifying had Albon in the wall at turn 5 early in the session.[21] He was able to find reverse and carry on. Sergio Pérez hit the wall at turn 3. A red flag was waved and Pérez jumped out the car and was out of the session.[22] Issues for Lando Norris meant he was unable to set a lap time and was also out of the session.[23] Leclerc, who had taken new power unit components, and was due to start from the back of the grid, did not risk going out on the wet track and was also out of the session.[24] Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon all improved their lap times at the end of the session, with Albon and Bottas not fast enough and being eliminated from qualifying.
In the third part of qualifying, all drivers completed banker laps on intermediate tyres with Max Verstappen putting himself on provisional pole. Noticing a dry line around most of the track, George Russell gambled on slick tyres for his final attempt, believing that if he could survive the wet turns 1 and 2, he would have a shot at pole.[25] At turn 2 on his qualifying lap, Russell drove through a puddle, spun, and hit the wall. He was able to carry on and found his way back to the pit lane.[26] Verstappen took pole position, Fernando Alonso took second, and Sainz was third after making a mistake out of the final corner. Hamilton finished fourth and the two Haases were fifth and sixth,[27] their best team qualifying since the 2018 German Grand Prix.[28]
^1 – Charles Leclerc was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[31][32]
^2 – Yuki Tsunoda was required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. The penalty made no difference as he qualified in the last position.
Race
Race report
The race started at 14:00 local time on 19 June, and ran for 70 laps.[9] From the front row, Max Verstappen got a better start than Fernando Alonso and kept the lead into turn one.[33] Into turn three, Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton were going side by side and made slight contact. Nothing was broken on Hamilton's car, but Magnussen's front wing endplate was hanging off.[34] After complaints from Esteban Ocon and others, Magnussen was black and orange flagged, meaning he was forced to pit to repair the damage. After the race, Magnussen claimed it is too easy to "influence" the race directors.[35] On lap eight, Sergio Pérez pulled off the circuit at turn eight due to a gearbox failure, retiring from the race and bringing out the virtual safety car (VSC).[36]Red Bull took advantage of the VSC period and pitted Verstappen onto a new set of hard compound tyres. Verstappen rejoined the race in third behind Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alonso. On Lap 19, Mick Schumacher retired his car in the runoff of turn eight with an engine failure,[37] bringing out the race's second VSC. Ferrari chose to pit Sainz and he rejoined in second, 9.5 seconds behind Verstappen. Verstappen pitted on lap 43 for new hard tyres under green flag conditions, rejoining in third behind Sainz and Hamilton. On fresh tyres, Verstappen was able to closely follow Hamilton through the first two sectors before overtaking him between turns 10 and 12 at the end of lap 43 to retake second. On lap 48 Yuki Tsunoda crashed at turn two after locking up on the pit exit,[38] bringing out the safety car which allowed Sainz to pit for new hard tyres and rejoin just behind the leader Verstappen with six-laps-younger tyres. A 16-lap sprint to the finish saw Sainz get close to overtaking Verstappen down the straight between turns 10 and 12,[a] but was unable to pass. Verstappen won by just under a second with Sainz finishing in second.[39] Hamilton rounded out the podium with George Russell fourth.[40]Charles Leclerc made his way up to fifth after taking a new power unit and starting 19th on the grid, limiting the damage in his title challenge.[41] Ocon crossed the line in sixth ahead of his teammate Alonso, who was suffering with an engine issue that started in the middle of the race.[42] A post-race penalty for weaving down the straight saw Alonso drop from seventh at the flag to ninth behind Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.[43]Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten finishers in his home race.[44]
^2 – Fernando Alonso finished seventh on track, but he received a post-race five-second time penalty for making more than one change of direction to defend a position.[45]
^3 – Lando Norris received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. His final position was not affected by the penalty.[45]
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Carlos Sainz Jr.
