A purple first sector for Hamilton came to naught as he encountered heavy traffic in the second sector, while Leclerc popped in a big lap on his fourth tour with the soft tyre to drop into the 1:10s with a 1:10.953 to go almost three-tenths up on Verstappen.

F1 and its governing body, the FIA, hope a rule change for Sunday’s race will change that. Drivers will be forced to change tires at least twice in the hope that more pit stop strategy could shake up an event where Saturday qualifying — and the resulting grid position — is often more important than race day.

Because overtaking is rare, the race can be dull. So the sport has ruled that two pit stops are now mandatory in a bid to spice things up.

Aston Martin F1's technical partner says "there's no point in pipe-dreaming" about snapping up Max Verstappen just yet

Aston Martin's chances of signing Max Verstappen will be a 'pipe dream' until they have a car good enough for Red Bull's four-time world champion, according to the team's design great Adrian Newey.

Aston Martin's chances of signing Max Verstappen will be a 'pipe dream' until they have a car good enough for Red Bull's four-times world champion, according to the team's design great Adrian Newey.