RACE REPORT
Grosjean was now sixth ahead
of the Force India duo of Perez and
Ocon, while Williams had profited
hugely after the start, with Massa
now ninth from P17 on the grid and
Williams team-mate Stroll in 10th
from a P18 start.
After closing to within a second
of Raikkonen, Hamilton’s pursuit of
the Finn stalled and by lap 31 he
was looking for options as he failed
to find a way past on track. The
response was for him to pit on lap
32 for supersoft tyres.
That caused a ripple effect
and two laps later third-placed
Ricciardo stopped for supersofts,
with Vettel pitting immediately
after. Bottas and Raikkonen stayed
out however and by lap 38 the
Mercedes driver was 19.5 seconds
ahead of the Ferrari driver, with
Vettel now third and 7.1 seconds
further back having made a stop.
Ricciardo was now fourth, 4.5
seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Bottas eventually pitted
from the lead on lap 41, taking
on supersofts for his final stint.
Raikkonen, though, soldiered on
with his starting ultrasofts. Bottas
though was closing on his newer
tyres and retook the lead on lap 44.
That was the cue for Raikkonen
to finally pit for supersofts at the
end of that tour. He rejoined in fifth
place behind Hamilton.