The Dutchman Verstappen turned his pole position into a lead at the first corner and was able to keep Norris at bay for the entire 19 laps.

“It wasn’t that bad,” said Verstappen. “It feels a bit like old times. Ferrari was always very fast throughout the race, but for us we were finally back in the race. We had good pace.”

Norris jumped from fourth on the grid to second on the first lap with an excellent first four corners, sweeping past Mercedes’ George Russell into the fast Esses after passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in turn one.

Sainz and Leclerc delivered an exciting sprint in the Ferrari throughout the race.

The Ferraris fought a hectic duel over the first five laps, seemingly spending almost as much time next to each other as behind each other. Sainz repeatedly tried to make moves but was rebuffed, often because he ran too deep into the corners.

After leading on lap five and diving to the inside at turn 15, the Spaniard attacked Russell as the Mercedes driver began to struggle with front tire wear and moved into the lead at turn 15 on lap nine, followed from Leclerc in the same place some time around.

Leclerc came back to Sainz in the closing laps as the Spaniard himself tried to attack Norris for second place.

And Norris’ mistake in turn one, which saw his inside front wheel lock up, allowed Sainz to slide past and eased the pressure from Leclerc, who had been waiting to attack his team-mate.