It’s a long drag down to the first turn, and Verstappen won the drag race as he swept outside of Hamilton to take the lead. “The first lap incident was about as painful as they get because your race is pretty much over from the start,” said Ricciardo who wound up 12th. “It was an unlucky day for me today,” said Bottas who would finish 15th. “I knew the start was very important today,” Verstappen said. Perez led laps 34 to 39 and then pitted, which dropped him to third behind Verstappen and Hamilton. Hamilton could not close the gap on Verstappen, so his main concern was keeping Perez at bay.

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