on
Mercedes The race was marked by several incidents. On the first lap at turn 2,
Max Verstappen,
Pierre Gasly,
Kimi Räikkönen, and
Romain Grosjean collided, resulting in Gasly and Verstappen retiring from the race and Räikkönen having to change his front wing. Verstappen's car was beached in the gravel trap. triggering a collision involving Sainz,
Kevin Magnussen,
Antonio Giovinazzi, and
Nicholas Latifi. Grosjean blamed the leader,
Valtteri Bottas, for causing the
accordion effect, and stated "this is the worst thing I've seen ever", but former
GP2 Series champion
Jolyon Palmer in his analysis conclusively demonstrated that Bottas was not to blame. All four drivers retired from the race and the red flag was brought out. During the red flag period,
Esteban Ocon retired due to a brake failure;
George Russell had earlier reported Ocon's brakes being on fire. The second red flag came on lap 45, after Stroll suffered a tyre failure at lap 43 turn 9, and went into the barrier. His
Racing Point RP20 caught on fire, making it harder for the marshals to clear the track.
Lewis Hamilton won the race, his 90th career win.
Valtteri Bottas came in second and
Alex Albon finished third, his first career podium. By finishing in ninth place, Kimi Räikkönen scored his first points of the season. A poor restart after the second red flag meant George Russell slipped from ninth to twelfth and last. He eventually finished eleventh leaving him out of the points. Twelve drivers were warned by the FIA for their part in the accident at the restart on lap 6. Writing for the
BBC, Jolyon Palmer praised the circuit, saying that it "defied all the Hermann Tilke|[Hermann] Tilke design theories and yet provided a great spectacle in the traditional sense."
Race classification ;Notes • – Includes one point for fastest lap. • –
Kimi Räikkönen finished eighth on the track, but received a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit entry line. ==Championship standings after the race==