Carlos Sainz finished third ahead of a hobbled Sergio Perez, with George Russell coming fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton after gaining massively with the safety car timing and then beating his team-mate in battle afterwards.
At the start, Leclerc shot away from pole position in the lead, while alongside his team-mate Sainz could not make a similarly quick getaway from away from the racing line on the right-hand side of the track.
That meant Verstappen was able to quickly get alongside the second Ferrari and the Dutchman went wheel-to-wheel with Sainz through the first corner before passing with a forceful move in to the second corner sweep through which they were soon blasting.
Leclerc had a 0.8s lead at the end of the first lap of 57 and quickly moved to pull clear of Verstappen’s DRS range by the time it was activated on the third lap.
For the opening phase of the race, Leclerc would gain three to four tenths each time through the first sector before Verstappen’s superior top speed brought him back towards the Ferrari along the long straights in the second two thirds of the circuit.
Leclerc’s lead reached a maximum of 1.4s at the start of lap six, just as he had set a then fastest lap in the high 1m33s, but soon after this a dark band of rubber appeared on his right front tyre.
Verstappen, informed his rival was struggling to preserve the mediums tyres all the leaders had started on, then began to edge back towards the Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB18, the rest of the field charge for the first corner at the start of the race
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
At the end of lap eight, Leclerc slid exiting the Turn 17 hairpin and Verstappen arrived right on his gearbox – moving alongside as they ran down the pit straight and then taking the lead with a simple pass into Turn 1, Leclerc opting not to fight too hard.
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