The entertainment was provided by Leclerc and Verstappen, initially wheel to wheel and then at a distance as divergent strategies played out.

Leclerc, who started fourth, jumped up to third place behind Verstappen on the exit of the first corner, and then bravely sat it out around the outside of the Red Bull through the high speed Turn Three at the start of the Esses and then dived down the inside into Turn Four.

Verstappen, though, was not finished, and he closed in on Leclerc down the back straight and they fought hard through the switchback series of corners through the stadium section before the Dutchman claimed second place with a dive down the inside of Turn 15.

Verstappen led Leclerc to his first stop on lap 13, Ferrari waiting two laps longer before the Monegasque made his own first stop.

Verstappen went on to the soft tyres and Leclerc the mediums, the Dutchman then switching to mediums when he stopped on lap 31.

But Leclerc's mediums in the second stint allowed him to run eight laps longer than the Red Bull driver.

Leclerc came out 8.5 seconds behind the Dutchman and closed the gap to be on his tail within five laps as Verstappen himself came up behind Lando Norris' McLaren.

They ran nose to tail for two laps before Verstappen passed Norris into Turn One on lap 47, Leclerc following him past later in the lap.

Two laps later, Leclerc picked off Verstappen down the inside of Turn One to secure the second podium position.

Verstappen was grumbling about his car over the radio for much of the race but he had enough to hold off a late charge from Hamilton - on a similar strategy to Leclerc - by one second at the flag.

Norris managed to nurse his tyres to the end with just one stop to beat Hadjar, while the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri fended off Russell for half the race to take seventh.

Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Alpine's Pierre Gasly claimed the final points positions in ninth and 10th.