Before that crash, the win looked to be between Piastri and Russell.
Antonelli made a slow start and dropped to the back of the top six as Piastri swept into the lead, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris also passed Russell.
Piastri held the lead confidently as Russell moved past Norris and Leclerc into second place by lap four.
Russell tracked Piastri within a second for several laps and then overtook him into the chicane on lap eight, only for the McLaren to move back past down the pit straight at the start of the following lap.
Russell was never as close again and Piastri’s confidence began to build, and he got on to the radio to his team to say he felt that he could hold on to the win if they could keep him in the lead through the pit stops.
Leclerc started the pit stop period on lap 17, Piastri following him in a lap later and Russell three laps after that.
Piastri was proved right as Russell came out of the pits behind the McLaren. Meanwhile, Antonelli – who had moved past Hamilton but no further after the start – cycled up into the lead.
Bearman’s crash happened almost straight afterwards and Russell immediately knew the consequences as he saw the safety car signs alight around the track.
Piastri lost out, too, on what could have been a victory had he managed to hold on ahead of Russell, as the rest of the race suggested he would have.
But a second place finally gets the Australian’s season off the ground, and gives McLaren their first 2026 podium, after he had failed to start the first two races.
