There was first lap chaos when Carlos Sainz spun himself and Felipe Massa out of the race, an early end to the event for them. Daniil Kvyat had a terrible afternoon as his car didn't get off the line for the formation lap, but when it did get going, he failed to catch up the pack - picking up not one, but two penalties from the FIA. Max Verstappen made a storming start to move into second place, but his car gave up just a few laps later.

Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton was totally untroubled up front, with Sebastian Vettel dropping back early and fighting his way back to fourth to limit the damage to his championship challenge. The two Force India drivers were on for another good points haul, with Esteban Ocon desperate to get past his teammate for a chance to fight for the podium, but Pérez not giving anything up.