A crazy start, a few crashes and Mercedes’ return to the top! George Russell celebrates his maiden F1 victory in Brazil

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix offered a great spectacle full of overtaking manoeuvres and collisions between the drivers of the top teams. For the first time this season, a Red Bull or Ferrari driver did not celebrate a triumph. Mercedes’ George Russell rode to his first career victory to the rhythm of the samba. And not only that, but second place for Lewis Hamilton was the first double for the German marque in two long years!

73. the Formula One World Championship season is drawing to a close. Twenty of the world’s best drivers were waiting for the Interlagos circuit in the Brazilian capital of Sao Paulo, where the first ever race of the queen of motorsport took place exactly 50 years ago. But it was only a non-championship event.

Chaos in the early laps

Britain’s George Russell started the penultimate race of the season from first place on the grid, and after a magnificent duel with world champion Max Verstappen, he triumphed in Saturday’s sprint.

Russell was followed into the first corner by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, followed by the Red Bull pair. Sergio Pérez was pressured into passing Senna’s Aces by Lando Norris’ well-started McLaren, but then dutifully slotted into fifth.

The first lap of the grand prix brought an accident between official pole position holder Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian, slowly saying goodbye to the F1 world, tapped the right rear wheel of the Danish driver, spinning him out.

However, Ricciardo picked the wrong side of the Haas car in his attempt to avoid it, and again slammed into Magnussen. Both retired early from the race and the safety car took to the track for the first time.

However, a restart on lap seven did not bring a lull in the race. Last year’s championship rivals Verstappen and Hamilton collided in turn two.

The two-time world champion did not get much room in the tight right-hander from Hamilton, whose car broke its front wing, for the second time this weekend. Verstappen had to go to his mechanics for a replacement, but the seven-time champion suffered no serious damage.

However, that was not all. Just a few hundred metres further on, another collision involving Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris occurred.

The Monegasque eventually made it to the barriers on the outside of turn seven, but fortunately for him there was no more than the loss of his front wing. On the same lap, two drivers who were considered the biggest contenders for this year’s title at the start of the season unexpectedly appeared in the pits.

The big comeback of the top drivers

Three drivers from the three biggest F1 teams suddenly found themselves at the bottom of the grid. This gave Russell a great chance of a first Grand Prix triumph in his fourth season as an F1 driver. Add to that the five-second penalties for Verstappen and Norris for collisions caused by them. Pérez, circling in second place, was surprisingly unable to match the Mercedes driver’s pace.

Hamilton made a partial comeback on lap 15 when he overtook Norris in a battle for fourth place. It was a shock move to third when Carlos Sainz headed to his mechanics for a change from a medium tyre to a soft specification rubber.

The middle part of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was characterised by high activity in the pits. As a result, spectators were able to see Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas running in third and fifth place respectively for a few moments.

Norris’s retirement brought a thrilling conclusion

On lap 44, Hamilton was ahead of Pérez in the battle for second place. The first double victory for Mercedes since the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix season was slowly taking shape.

Eight laps later, Norris had to retire due to technical problems with his McLaren. A virtual safety car circled the track for two laps, but then race directors decided to deploy a real slowing car.

The safety car came back into the pits at the end of lap 59. Russell held on to the race lead, while Pérez defended his last place on the podium ahead of Sainz. Behind them, Verstappen was making his way back up the order. Pérez eventually failed to defend third position and then Leclerc, Alonso and Verstappen got past him.

Russell held off the pressure from the onrushing Hamilton and was able to celebrate his maiden Formula One victory after the finish.

The two Mercedes drivers were joined on the podium by Sainz, who was pressured by Leclerc over the radio to let him pass him in the battle for second place overall. Red Bull had to settle for only sixth and seventh.

However, you can see the full results of the penultimate race of the season for yourself in the attached Twitter post below.

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