The championship leader appeared out of sorts in the opening flurry of laps as he struggled to charge his battery with the selected hybrid settings, but a series of changes on his steering wheel appeared to rectify the issue.
With greater forward momentum, Verstappen pulled himself out of third with a simple DRS overtake on the second-placed Fernando Alonso, and then pounced on a Turn 14 lock-up from Hamilton to close in for victory.
