A late Safety Car bunched the pack up, but Verstappen was unable to challenge after struggling with a steering issue, and pulled into the pits to retire two laps from the end, elevating Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz into second place.

On the last lap, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez also retired after his engine appeared to have seized, promoting Hamilton into third.

Leclerc's win was his first since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix and Ferrari's first since that year's Singapore race, and showed that the F1-75's impressive pre-season pace was no flash in the pan.

"I'm so happy," said Leclerc, who also took the bonus point for fastest lap. "The last two years have been extremely difficult for the team."