Verstappen beat Leclerc after the Italian team tried a questionable two-stop strategy, surrendering the lead to the Dutchman twice on track. Verstappen’s 11th win this year puts him 115 points clear of Leclerc and means he could potentially clinch the championship at the next race in Singapore. Verstappen drove another consummate race, moving up quickly from seventh on the grid after a penalty for excessive engine usage to be second after five laps. Verstappen, though, ran his planned race and did not come in for his stop for tyres until lap 25. Verstappen came out 10 seconds adrift of Leclerc and soon began to close on the Ferrari. But Ferrari called Leclerc in again on lap 33, changing to soft tyres, hoping to close on Verstappen over the remaining 18 laps. That means he would need to win the race with Leclerc retiring to become champion there.

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