Mercedes earn Russell led one-two despite Hamilton's crash with Verstappen

George Russell has won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in his career as Mercedes lay a warning marker down for the 2023 season with a one-two finish in Brazil. Russell started the Sao Paulo Grand Prix from pole position and survived safety car restarts and pitstops to give Mercedes their first win of the season in the penultimate race of the year. Lewis Hamilton, who crashed with Max Verstappen, came back through the field and secured P2. Carlos Sainz rounded off the podium. 

Hamilton and Verstappen renewed their rivalry with a crash on lap seven. The 2021 title rivals closed in on each other at the safety car restart and were almost side-by-side going into the first sequence of corners. They collided on the right turn with Verstappen on the inside line. With Hamilton marginally ahead, the stewards determined Verstappen was at fault and he recieved a five second penalty. A front-wing change ended his chances of a win. Daniel Ricciardo's penulatimate Grand Prix didn't last long. The Australian collided with Kevin Magnussen who then spun back into the McLaren driver causing them both to retire. 

Ferrari had yet another frustrating day. Charles Leclerc hit the wall hard during the opening laps of the race. Somehow, the man from Monaco survived the heavy hit but restarted at the back of the grid. His teammate Carlos Sainz had a visor strip stuck in his brakes which caught fire. He had to take an early pitstop which caused him to lose strategy sync. Though a late safety car gave them both hope of a late attack and a decent points haul with P3 and P4. The Red Bull drivers ended up in P6 and P7.

Alpine might have had a nightmare weekend with their drivers, but they crucially came out on top in their battle with McLaren in the World Championship. The Woking-based team had a double DNF with Norris stopping out on track with an engine issue. Alonso ended the race in P5, with Ocon getting P8. 

Russell would've started this season with hopes of winning the World Championship. He waited patiently for the Mercedes seat, and when he finally got the contract from Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes delivered a car not capable of winning races. Hard work from the whole team followed and updates arrived for a late season revival. Mercedes got close in Mexico, but took the Brazillian race with both hands to secure the win. Mercedes reported their drivers were free to race, and Russell ensured he kept a gap of more than one second ahead of his seven-time World Champion teammate. 

Sprint Weekend

Formula 1's sprint weekends are now tried and tested, but this event in Brazil has been the best so far. A wet qualifying session on Friday put Kevin Magnussen on pole position for the sprint race. The Haas driver couldn't hold onto P1 and Verstappen dropped backwards to P4 on medium tyres. Mercedes advanced on the soft tyres, with George Russell winning the 100km dash. Carlos Sainz had a five-place penalty and therefore Hamilton moved up to the front row alongside his teammate. 

Red Bull and Mercedes started on soft tyres whereas Ferrari opted for the medium tyre. All drivers at the front of the grid survived the first sequence of corners without changing order. Daniel Ricciardo ended up spinning Magnussen. The two collided and had to retire from the race. The crash caused a full safety car which stayed out until lap seven.

Russell left it late to avoid gifting everyone behind a slipstream, but Hamilton didn't get a good jump meaning the 2021 title rivals went into turn one side by side. The drivers touched but both continued. The Dutchman needed a new wing and dropped to the back, but the Brit only dropped to P8. The stewards determined that Hamilton had the corner and gave the current World Champion a five second penalty. Leclerc also dropped to the back after a strong wack in the barrier, but somehow the Ferrari driver carried on. 

Hamilton worked is way back up to third and on lap 23 he was only nine seconds behind his teammate. One lap later, Perez pitted for the medium tyres but came out behind Bottas and therefore ended any undercut attempt. Mercedes reacted with Russell immediatly to cover it off. Verstappen also pitted to serve his five second penalty, a rear tyre issue made the problem worse for the Dutchman. He returned in 17th. Hamilton pitted on lap 30 giving himself a good chance of getting to the end on the mediums. 

With falling temperatures and younger tyres, Hamilton caught up with Perez on lap 44 and they started a duel for P2. Hamilton made the overtake on lap 45 using the slipstream and DRS. A ten second gap seperated the two Mercedes drivers. Given the strong pace, Hamilton's hopes of a one-stop were over and pitted for soft tyres to cover off Sainz. Russell came in for his set of softs the following lap. Lando Norris lost power on lap 53 which caused a virtual safety car first before a full safety car. 

Mercedes survived the restart in order, as Perez and Sainz squabbled over P3. Perez ended up dropping down the field on the medium tyres, with Sainz taking the final podium spot.