British driver George Russell (Mercedes) took the first victory of his Formula 1 career on Sunday by winning the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season, in São Paulo.
Starting from head positionAfter winning the sprint race on Saturday, Russell, who made a good start, dominated the race and only lost the lead to a tire change, to cross the line with a time of 1:38.34.044.
Britain’s Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was second, 1.529 seconds behind the winner, with Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) third, 4.051.
The race had a few incidents, starting with Dane Kevin Magnussen’s Hare spinning, caused by a touch from Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren, which was thrown into confusion and out of the race.
O safety car got to the seventh lap on the track. At the resumption of the race, Russell was better again while Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) attacked Hamilton into the first corner, trying to pass around the outside and reach the second corner on the inside.
The two eventually collided, leaving the worst damage to the already two-time champion, who was left without a front wing in his single-seater, while Hamilton was forced to leave the track and fall back to ninth.
Verstappen would come to the pits to fit medium tyres, which had never been properly adapted to the Red Bulls over the weekend and would become key to one of the race’s controversies towards the end.
The Dutchman finally punished the stewards in five seconds because they were found guilty of the collision.
Britain’s Lando Norris (McLaren) also received a five-second penalty for hitting Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), but would drop out of the race in the second half of the race.
Mexican Sérgio Pérez (Red Bull) battled with Leclerc for second place in the championship and was always in contention for the podium, at least until the second stop to change tyres, on lap 48 of 71.
The team fitted medium tyres, which affected the competitiveness of the Mexican’s Red Bull.
The race restarted on lap 63, after a second safety car period, which allowed Sainz to fit new soft tires and Pérez, who was still losing positions to Leclerc, to Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine) and to his team-mate, Verstappen, to attack.
The team would ask the two-time champion to switch positions with Pérez again, but ‘Mad’ Max was not there for the adjustments. “I already told you last summer not to ask me that and explained my reasons,” Verstappen said over the radio.
The team director himself, the Briton Christian Horner, would apologize to the Mexican over the radio. “Thanks, guys. This just shows who he really is,” Pérez replied, resigning.
With these results, Max Verstappen, already champion, reached 429 points, while Pérez and Leclerc reached the final round, in Abu Dhabi, tied with 290.
“I just spoke to the team, we also discussed things internally that had already happened. If he needs the points in Abu Dhabi, I will do my best to help him. It’s not the end of the world.” he stressed.
This controversy, which also, albeit to a lesser extent, affected Ferrari – Leclerc asked to switch positions with Sainz, but the team considered it a risky maneuver – eventually overshadowed George Russell’s emotional celebrations.
“It’s been a real rollercoaster of emotions. It’s been so busy, but I’m very happy with the win,” said the Briton, who had already commented on the radio that this is “just the beginning”.
In the Constructors’ World Championship, Red Bull is also champion and leads with 719 points, but Ferrari, which has 524, saw Mercedes (505) approach second place.
The next and final round is next weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Source: DN
