MAX VERSTAPPEN reignited his old feud with George Russell as he appeared to RAM into the Mercedes driver late on.
Former world champion Nico Rosberg called for the black flag to be brought out and disqualification for Verstappen after the stunning incident on lap 64.
Verstappen was hit with a ten second time penalty in the end after colliding with Russell as he was told to let the Brit driver through.
Watching in the cool-down room after the race, runner-up Lando Norris compared it to something he has done before in “Mario Kart”.
The chaos began after the restart from the safety car which was prompted by Kimi Anontelli veering into the gravel.
Verstappen nearly spun and Charles Leclerc overtook and then Russell nearly went into the back of the Dutchman who had to veer off track onto the escape road and was told by his team to give the place back to the Brit.
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The Mercedes man thought he was doing so but the Dutchman appeared to intentionally ram into the side of him.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri pulled off a blinder to win the race ahead of his teammate Lando Norris who is hot on his tails in the push towards the driver’s title.
The time penalty for Verstappen meant Leclerc finished third ahead of fourth-place Russell, but it was misery for Lewis Hamilton who was overtaken by Nico Hulkenburg for fifth.
At the start, Australian driver Piastri got off perfectly while Verstappen picked out Norris for second.
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Russell produced a horrific start which left him for dust by both Ferraris as Hamilton went into fourth and Lecerc into fifth.
Flustered Russell was fuming saying: “These ***** are moving under braking today. What is going one!?”
Toto Wolff hit back with: “George, concentrate.”
Ferrari’s swap conundrum was back again on lap 9 with Leclerc right up Hamilton’s jacksie as the seven-time world champion struggled with his grip on the car.
He was finally told “swap positions with Leclerc” and he waved his teammate past.
Norris was all over Verstappen and the McLaren one-two was restored on lap 13 as the Brit eased past the Red Bull driver who didn’t even bother to defend.
Now the race was on between Norris and Piastri as they went toe-to-toe on lap times.
Verstappen took the lead in his Red Bull on lap 23 after the two McLaren’s had pitted after his own stop.
But the Dutchman was struggling and pitted again on lap 30 and the two Papaya cars shimmied into the lead.
Just over half-way and Norris was closing in on Piastri with blistering lap times and was the quickest driver on the track.
Red Bull were still in the mix though and Christian Horner came on the blower to Verstappen to say: “McLaren are receiving the threat. They realise they have to push on. It’s a long way to go from there.”
Piastri played Norris like a fiddle though, allowing him to get close before charging clear of his teammate with the gap over five seconds with 20 laps to go.
Norris and Verstappen got caught up in a fierce battle between Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson.
The four-time world champion slammed the “f****** idiots!” on his team radio as he angrily waved at Bearman when he passed him.
Drama erupted when the safety car came out after Anontelli’s Mercedes veered into the gravel while England and Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham watched on from the garage.
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There was chaos on the restart for Verstappen which took the attention away from Piastri eventually soaring over the line with another perfect performance.
The dramatic events saw Piastri move ten points ahead of Norris at the top of the World Drivers Championship, with Verstappen tumbling 49 points behind the leader.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
