George Russell takes first victory in action-packed Brazil sprint race
George Russell has taken his first Formula 1 victory in an action-packed sprint race in Brazil.
Sprint race winner George Russell is congratulated by teammate Lewis Hamilton. (Steve Etherington/Mercedes)
Russell qualified third and took the lead around the halfway mark on Saturday as he passed the wounded Max Verstappen.
"It was incredible," said Russell.
"I wasn't expecting to have that much pace, but I think, you know, it goes to show all the hard work everybody's putting in and the progress we, as a team, have made in these last three races since Austin."
Kevin Magnussen started the sprint race on pole after a surprise finish to qualifying on Friday.
The Dane's lead lasted two laps, with Drivers' Champion Verstappen easily passing for the lead into turn one.
As the race drew towards half-distance, Russell passed Magnussen and reeled in Verstappen.
George Russell climbs out of his Mercedes after winning the Sprint race in Sao Paulo. (LAT Images/Mercedes)
Verstappen was the only driver in the top ten on medium tyres, and Russell gained ground easily as the laps went by, catching the champ by lap twelve.
The pair duelled it out for three laps, driving side-by-side and swapping positions multiple times before the Mercedes driver made the decisive move on lap fifteen.
Russell says that he didn't expect to be in the position to contest for the lead.
"I think we were confident that we could finish second, and we thought Max would probably have quite an easy run to be honest."
"We knew that if we weren't ahead of him at turn one, it was going to be very difficult to stay ahead of him."
"You had to balance the risk and reward, because obviously, you know, there's only one extra point… "
"So, you had to be a little bit careful."
"And you know, Max has got nothing to lose, really."
"So, he was going to be driving aggressively."
"But you know, definitely, it was pleasing to get the move done in the end."
As Russell and Verstappen squabbled over the lead, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton took full advantage and caught up to the rear of the podium battle.
A wheel-banging attack from Sainz led to Verstappen losing his front wing endplate and falling down to fourth at the flag.
Carlos Sainz crossed the line second, but with an engine penalty on Sunday it will be a Mercedes one-two on the grid.
"I had to be aggressive because obviously tomorrow I'm taking the penalty and, in the end, I think P2 was the maximum today," said the Ferrari driver.
"I was happy with the race. Happy with the pace."
"It’s just that the Mercs look like they picked up the pace a lot recently and they are very quick in the race."
"Whenever I'm strong and whenever I'm on the pace, I have a setback that weekend, which is a bit the story of the whole season, as I said, but yeah, at least I feel confident."
"I feel comfortable."
"I feel like I did a perfect race today."
"So, I'm up for the fight tomorrow."
The action continued in the field behind, with both Alpine drivers under investigation for a pair of clashes which saw Fernando Alonso collide with the rear of Esteban Ocon and lose his front wing.
Alonso’s fifteenth-place finish was compounded by a five-second penalty post-race for his contact with Ocon, dropping him to eighteenth.
Lance Stroll was awarded a 10-second penalty for his driving, with a dangerous move on the exit of turn three forcing teammate Sebastian Vettel onto the grass.
Lando Norris was able to make ground against rivals Alpine with his seventh-place finish, while teammate Daniel Ricciardo joined Lewis Hamilton and Guanyu Zhou who are all under investigation for breaches of the start procedure.
2022 Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Sprint Race
- George Russell
- Carlos Sainz
- Lewis Hamilton
- Max Verstappen
- Sergio Perez
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando Norris
- Kevin Magnussen
- Sebastian Vettel
- Pierre Gasly
- Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
- Mick Schumacher
- Zhou Guanyu
- Valtteri Bottas
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Lance Stroll
- Esteban Ocon
- Fernando Alonso
- Nicholas Latifi
- Alex Albon - DNF
