RACE REPORT
Blow-By-Blow
Bottas got away best at the start,
but so good was his getaway that there
was the suspicion the Finn had jumped
the start. Further back Verstappen
made the poorest start, bogging down
badly when the lights went out. He was
swamped by rivals and dropped back
to where 14th-place starter Alonso was
profiting from taking an inside line.
The Spaniard was followed by
Kvyat but as they went into Turn 1,
Kvyat braked too late and collided with
Alonso who in turn hit Verstappen.
The McLaren and Red Bull sustained
significant damage and though both
made it back to the pits they were
forced to quit the race. Kvyat was later
handed a drive through penalty for
causing the collision.
Ahead Ricciardo, who had made
a good start, was on the attack. He
pressured Raikkonen into Turn 3 and
stole third place from the Finn. Pushed
wide, Raikkonen was also passed
by Grosjean in the Haas, although
he bounced back and passed the
Frenchman on the next lap.
Bottas meanwhile was carving
out a solid lead. By lap 17 the Finn
had built a five-second to Vettel, with
Ricciardo a further 3.5 seconds back.
Raikkonen was fourth but he was
being hunted down relentlessly by
Hamilton, who had risen to fifth place
from eighth on the grid.