Norris also had cause to rue misfortune.

As the track dried through the first stint, he closed in on Verstappen in second place and passed him and then took the lead from Russell into the final chicane.

Russell was forced to cut the chicane as Norris passed, and Verstappen demoted him to third on the exit.

Five laps later, after Norris had built a substantial lead, Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams as more rain began to fall and the safety car was deployed.

But the call was too late for Norris to pit – he had passed the pit exit already – while everyone behind him could. The safety car then picked Norris up, slowing him down, and he came out in third place behind Verstappen and Russell.

At the restart, Verstappen began to slowly edge away from Russell, and the race seemed to have fallen under his control.

But the track dried, and Russell and Norris began to come back at the Red Bull, only for each to make mistakes.

First, Norris went off the track at Turns One and Two, also delaying Russell, who lost 1.5secs to Verstappen in one lap.

Three laps later, on lap 45, Verstappen and Russell stopped for slick tyres, while Norris stayed out for two more laps.

He was trying to build a sufficient advantage to come out in the lead, and it was close – he looked to be set to race wheel to wheel with Verstappen as the McLaren exited the pits.

But Norris lost grip on the damp area off-line on the pit-lane exit, and Verstappen was able not only to retain the lead but finish the lap nearly four seconds ahead.

The race for the win seemed all but over, only for a safety car, triggered when Carlos Sainz lost his Ferrari at Turn Six and collected Alex Albon’s Williams, to close up the field again, and Mercedes to take their chance with fresh tyres.

It was worth a gamble, but in the end the race was won by the driver and team who kept things under control best in tough conditions and made fewest mistakes – even if Verstappen himself had a couple of off-track moments.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez had a poor race, failing to make significant progress from his 16th grid position and then crashing late in the race.

Perez was given a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Spain for returning to the track with a damaged car after his accident, leaving carbon-fibre debris strewn around the circuit.