This allowed him to jump past his teammate Oscar Piastri and regain the lead that Norris had at the beginning of the season, albeit by only one point. But if that sounds like it was a boring race, think again.
Behind Norris, the chasing peloton went four wide into the first corner. Both Ferraris were in the mix, with Charles Leclerc qualifying second and his teammate Lewis Hamilton third. Max Verstappen could not qualify further than fifth with his Red Bull, behind the Mercedes of George Russell. A number of drivers had to go onto the grass at Turn 1 to avoid a crash, giving Norris enough breathing room to build a lead.
Behind him, things were a little more interesting. Leclerc managed to hold on to second place, but with much less speed than Norris, another peloton formed behind him. By lap 7, Verstappen had managed to push his way past Russell, leaving him to battle his old foe from the 2021 title, Hamilton. Neither car could fully follow the track and Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty, ending any thoughts of finally taking his first Ferrari podium. Ultimately he finished eighth.
The stadium section doesn't have the best sequence of turns, but there are few places where you can get a good view of the cars.
Peter Fox/Getty Images
The stadium section doesn't have the best sequence of turns, but there are few places where you can get a good view of the cars.
Peter Fox/Getty Images
Oliver Bearman equaled Haas' best ever finish with fourth place.
Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Oliver Bearman equaled Haas' best ever finish with fourth place.
Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Piastri has seven wins to Norris's six, but he has also struggled with good results in the past few events.
ALFREDO ESTRELLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Piastri has seven wins to Norris's six, but he has also struggled with good results in the past few events.
ALFREDO ESTRELLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Oliver Bearman equaled Haas' best ever finish with fourth place.
Hector Vivas/Getty Images
Piastri has seven wins to Norris's six, but he has also struggled with good results in the past few events.
ALFREDO ESTRELLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen all stuck to a one-stop strategy, with the Red Bull driver starting on medium tires and then switching to the soft tyres; his rivals did the opposite. Verstappen was in a much stronger position in the closing stages of the race, with newer, softer rubber than the Ferrari ahead. But although he closed the gap to a fraction of a second, he was denied the chance to overtake Leclerc when a virtual safety car interrupted the race with just three laps to go.
With his third place, Verstappen is now 36 points behind championship leader Norris, with a total of 116 points still on offer for the season.
Fourth place went to the Haas of Oliver Bearman, who saw an early opportunity to get into the leading group, but could not hold off Verstappen for the final podium spot towards the end of the race. As for Piastri, he was able to claw his way back to fifth after starting eighth. That gave him 10 points, giving him only five to Verstappen, although Norris now leads him with 357 points to 356.
The next race is on November 9 in Brazil.
