Hamilton makes history with maiden Ferrari win as Antonelli hit by costly DNF

At the start, Russell launched cleanly from pole and successfully fended off Hamilton into Turn 1 despite an aggressive move from the seven-time world champion on the soft tyres. Antonelli held onto third place, with Norris remaining fourth and Verstappen completing the top five.

Leclerc was one of the biggest gainers on the opening lap, making up three positions and quickly moving onto the tail of the leading group. It was a far more difficult start for Hadjar, who slipped out of the top 10 and dropped to 13th place, while the two Aston Martins remained rooted to the back of the field.

On lap eight, Leclerc made his move on Oscar Piastri, pulling off a superb pass around the outside of Turn 3 to snatch sixth place and set his sights on the Verstappen-Norris duo ahead. Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to kick off the pit-stop phase, as expected, diving into the pits on lap 12 after being the only driver among the leading group to start on the soft tyres. He rejoined the race on the hard compound.

A lap later, Mercedes responded to Ferrari's strategy by bringing Russell into the pits, allowing Antonelli to inherit the race lead while awaiting his own stop. On lap 13, Leclerc climbed another position as Verstappen headed into the pits, with the Ferrari driver continuing to showcase impressive pace on the medium compound tyres. Antonelli completed the first round of pit stops on lap 15, rejoining the track in third place.

The race entered a quieter phase shortly after the opening third, with Antonelli beginning to close the gap after pitting later than his rivals and gradually becoming a threat to the leading Russell-Hamilton duo. Behind them, Leclerc also started to reel in Verstappen, benefiting from a fresher set of tyres of his own.

The second round of pit stops began on lap 28, once again with Hamilton, who pitted in an attempt to undercut Russell while running 2.5 seconds behind his fellow Briton. Russell, however, stayed out for another lap, as Antonelli continued to close in from behind. Just as Antonelli was preparing to take the fight to his teammate, Russell pitted on lap 37. Meanwhile, Hamilton continued to churn out fastest laps and had almost closed the gap to Antonelli, bringing himself firmly back into contention.

Home hero Fernando Alonso retired on lap 40, triggering a Virtual Safety Car and allowing Verstappen to jump ahead of Leclerc thanks to the reduced time loss in the pit lane. Hamilton also capitalised on the Virtual Safety Car, rejoining the track in the lead and with fresher tyres than both Mercedes drivers.

The Briton began to pile on the pressure lap after lap with his fresher tyres, building a comfortable margin over Russell and Antonelli before managing the gap all the way to the chequered flag and securing the first Ferrari victory of his career.

In the closing stages, Antonelli managed to get past Russell to claim second place and extend his championship lead by a further three points. However, a technical issue brought his race to an end with just four laps remaining, allowing Russell to inherit second place once again. Leclerc also ran into trouble late on, suddenly losing pace as he battled technical problems of his own.