[8] Having won the previous race at Monaco, Max Verstappen, of Red Bull, entered the round holding a four-point lead in the World Driver's Championship ahead of rival Lewis Hamilton, who was driving for Mercedes.

[13] After qualifying, Lando Norris said he was left "gutted" after he was handed a three-place grid penalty as well as three-penalty points on his FIA Super Licence for failing to correctly follow the red flag procedures.

[19] Before the start of the race, a moment of silence was held in memory's of the deceased former FIA chief Max Mosley and long-time McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh.

The main change in the order was Sergio Pérez overtaking Carlos Sainz Jr. and Pierre Gasly to move from sixth to fourth place.

On lap 11, Sainz outbraked himself into the turn 8 chicane, dropping him from 6th to 15th and finding himself having to reverse out of a very narrow run off onto the racing line.

On lap 30, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, who was the sole driver to have started the race on the hardest tyre compound and not to have made a pit stop yet, suffered a left-rear tyre failure when exiting turn 20 onto the main straight, causing him to lose control and crash into the left-hand barriers, resulting in his retirement and the safety car being deployed for a few laps.

The only ones who took a fresh set of tyres during the safety car period were Fernando Alonso, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell, and Nikita Mazepin.

Two laps later, his Red Bull RB16B suffered a left-rear tyre failure on the main straight causing him to spin and crash into the barriers, coming to rest about 50m short of the finishing line.

The race director Michael Masi ordered the cars to pass through the pit lane to bypass the accident scene.

On the formation lap to the grid for the restart, George Russell's Williams ground to a halt in the pit lane and retired with gearbox issues.

Pérez had a slow start from the lead and Hamilton tried to pass on the inside of turn 1 but had inadvertently selected the wrong brake mode and was unable to brake sufficiently, causing him to lock up at high speed and forcing him onto the escape road; Hamilton dropped to last, a result that would have significant consequences for him at the end of the season.

Pérez then led the race to the end, ahead of Vettel and Gasly, with Leclerc, Norris, Alonso, Tsunoda, Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, and Kimi Räikkönen completing the top ten.

Mick Schumacher had been passed by his teammate Mazepin at the restart but regained his position just before crossing the finish line to end the race.

[33] Masi was expected to reiterate the importance of yellow flag conditions to drivers prior to the 2021 French Grand Prix after the complaints lodged by McLaren during the race.

Drivers, including Leclerc, said they would query the decision to delay the deployment of the safety car following Verstappen's crash late in the race.