Heading into the race Lewis Hamilton had a 17-point advantage over teammate Valtteri Bottas in the Drivers' Championship. In the Constructors' Championship it was Mercedes who held a 118-point advantage over Ferrari.[4]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. However, Nicholas Latifi drove in the first practice session for Williams.[5]
Mission Winnow, the title sponsor of Ferrari, was banned from this race as it did not comply with local laws governing tobacco sponsorship.[6]
^2 – Kevin Magnussen was required to start from the pit lane after having his chassis replaced due to a crash in qualifying. He also received a 15-place grid penalty: 10 places for his third Control Electronics (CE) and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[citation needed]
Race
Sebastian Vettel started on pole and maintained the lead from Lewis Hamilton, who started in second place. The opening lap saw Valtteri Bottas lose sixth place to Nico Hülkenberg, and saw Alexander Albon squeezed between Sergio Pérez and Antonio Giovinazzi at turn one, making contact with Giovinazzi and causing Albon to lose his front wing. Debris from Albon was blown back into the cockpit of Romain Grosjean's Haas, catching on the car's halo and causing Grosjean to go straight on at turn two whilst he removed the debris with his hand, losing positions. Albon pitted at the end of the lap for a replacement, having fallen to last place. His pace suffered for the rest of the race, and the team eventually opted to retire his damaged car on lap 60. Carlos Sainz Jr. was forced to pit at the end of the third lap after his brake calipers began to overheat due to a duct blockage. The problem was cleared and Sainz emerged from the pits in 19th place.
On lap nine, Lando Norris, who was running in eighth place, pulled over to the side of the pit exit after suffering a broken right-rear suspension. It later emerged that the McLaren's brakes had overheated and set on fire, burning through the suspension. This was unconnected to the problem encountered earlier by his teammate, which was caused by a helmet visor tear-off.[11] No safety car was deployed, since Norris' car had stopped away from the track.
Hülkenberg made his first pit stop at the end of lap 16, allowing Bottas and Max Verstappen to take fourth and fifth place respectively. Vettel pitted at the end of lap 26, with Hamilton inheriting the race lead. Vettel emerged in third place ahead of Bottas and Verstappen. On the following lap, Giovinazzi spun at turn two, coming to a stop on the grass and avoiding the barriers. He was able to recover and continue racing. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 28, coming out behind Vettel and handing the lead to Charles Leclerc. Bottas pitted on lap 30, emerging in sixth place behind the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Leclerc pitted on lap 33, resulting in Vettel re-taking the lead. Bottas made it past Ricciardo on lap 38 after struggling to overtake the Renault since his pit stop.
Hamilton had been closely following Vettel until turn three of lap 48, when Vettel went straight on over the grass, missing turn four. As the Ferrari re-joined the track, Hamilton was squeezed towards the outside wall and was forced to slow down to avoid a collision. A lap later, Verstappen was the last of the front-runners to make a pit stop, emerging in seventh place behind both Renaults. By lap 52 the Red Bull had made it up to fifth place.
On lap 57, Vettel was handed a five-second time penalty for the lap 48 incident, for re-entering the track unsafely and forcing another driver off the track. Over the next thirteen laps, Vettel attempted to build a five-second gap to Hamilton in second. Vettel ultimately crossed the finish line in first place, but was only 1.3 seconds ahead, meaning the victory was awarded to Hamilton. At the conclusion of the race, rather than park his car in parc ferme, Vettel pulled over much earlier in the pit lane and had to be collected by an official to attend the podium. On the way, Vettel removed the #1 sign from in front of Hamilton's car and moved it to the empty space where his car should have been parked.[12] Ferrari announced it would appeal the penalty.[13][14][15] On 21 June the FIA denied the appeal, stating that Ferrari had supplied "...no significant and relevant new elements which were unavailable to the parties at the time [the penalty was given],..."[16] The incident has been described as controversial.[17]
^1 – Sebastian Vettel completed the race first but received a 5-second penalty for re-joining the track unsafely and forcing Lewis Hamilton off the track.[12]
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