Following a late Virtual Safety Car period, the gloves came off between long-time leader Leclerc and his main 2022 rival Verstappen.
Verstappen first passed Leclerc in the final hairpin on lap 42 after the Monegasque driver appeared happy to let Verstappen by, as it returned the DRS advantage to him on the main straight and allowed him to retake the lead into Turn 1.
Verstappen smartened up by trying to time his next pass better two laps later, but out-braked himself to try and keep the DRS for the main straight.
On lap 47 Verstappen finally made the move stick on the run down to Turn 1 and held on to take his first win of 2022.
The Dutchman acknowledged playing “smart tricks” in the DRS zones was key to securing the win.
“Yeah, it seems like once you get quite close, when you get within half a second, you actually can have a good exit,” Verstappen said.
“And I think that makes it a lot more tricky to actually do the pass, let’s say in the last corner compared to last year, so…
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