Reigning GP2 Series champion Pierre Gasly made his Formula One debut, replacing Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso.

[6] The first free practice session saw several substitute drivers take part, including Sergey Sirotkin filling in for Nico Hülkenberg at Renault, Charles Leclerc replacing Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, Antonio Giovinazzi replacing Kevin Magnussen at Haas, and Sean Gelael taking the place of Carlos Sainz, Jr. at Toro Rosso.

[8] The third practice session was concluded with Kimi Räikkönen fastest but his teammate Sebastian Vettel had an engine problem that required a replacement.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a time of 1:30.076, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Max Verstappen.

Coming into the last laps, Hamilton tried fighting back but Verstappen won comfortably to take his second win in his career, a year after his previous at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.