Lando Norris finished in first place after a slow first lap at night, interrupted by a red flag.
Carlos Sainz, who had missed the previous weekend for Scuderia Ferrari, was already on track and was in the car for a test session. It was an active but boring lap of the circuit, with teams running medium and soft tyres. Most of the time, the stage brought a number of serious mistakes: Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton tasted the gravel, George Russell made a mistake, and the Mercedes' suffering was the most spectacular. Worst of all, however, was Alexander Albon, who 'got away' with an aggressive attack on a wheelie and smashed Williams into the wall. The two Red Bulls were also licking the gravel, while Sainz, on his way out of the pits, was clipped by Nico Hülkenberg. Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and George Russell finished in the top three.
