Russell, so impressive in a number of different ways as he took pole position on Saturday, held on to the lead at the start and initially appeared to be in control of the race as he built an advantage over Hamilton.

The seven-time champion spent the first part of the race trying to hold back Verstappen, and after a frantic wheel to wheel battle through Turns Four, Five, Six and Seven on lap 11, Hamilton blinked first and stopped for fresh tyres on the following lap.

It was early – and it sealed Hamilton’s fate as a contender at the start of the race.

Russell and Verstappen stayed out and stopped within a lap of each other six and seven laps after Hamilton.

Antonelli, meanwhile, had briefly dropped to fifth at the start of the race after a hectic scrap with Hamilton, Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc through Turns Three and Four on lap two.

But he stayed out until lap 24, stopping just before a virtual safety car caused by Carlos Sainz’s Williams stopping on the pit straight.

That set the tone of the race. When racing resumed, Verstappen was about five seconds behind Russell and closing in, and Antonelli fighting past Leclerc to do the same to Verstappen.

Verstappen had the gap to Russell down to just 1.3 seconds when the Briton stopped for a second time on lap 43, and Red Bull left their man out for a further six laps to try to build a tyre offset.

Antonelli, meanwhile, stopped two laps after Verstappen, and the tense climax was staged.

Verstappen had a 10-second deficit to close in 20 laps, and Antonelli five on Verstappen.

For a time, it looked as if Verstappen would be the one to catch Russell, but Antonelli was always a threat as well.

The gaps progressively closed through the remaining laps, and the three crossed the line in one camera shot, as Russell led Verstappen by 1.6 seconds, with Antonelli just 0.3secs further behind.

“The tough races definitely test you psychologically,” said Russell. “These last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it.”