Hamilton was around five seconds behind race leader Vettel after the first round of stops, but his pace on the harder compound Pirelli tyres was superior, allowing him to reel in the Ferrari and get within DRS range. He began heaping on the pressure – and on Lap 48, he made a breakthrough.

Vettel lost the rear heading into Turn 3, pitching him onto the grass. Wrestling the car as he re-joined, the Ferrari drifted onto the racing line and into the path of Hamilton who was looking to skip through the gap between the Ferrari and the wall. The gap wasn’t there, though, so Hamilton backed out of it and Vettel retained the lead.