George Russell produced an excellent performance to win an F1 Sprint race for the first time – taking the lead after battling for several laps with Max Verstappen.
In truth, it was an afternoon to forget for Red Bull. Verstappen started poorly, rallied to take the lead – but after he was passed by Russell he picked up damage and slipped further back, meaning he will start further back than he would like on Sunday.
Red Bull's loss was Mercedes' gain, though. Russell's victory was boosted by Lewis Hamilton finishing third, sandwiching Carlos Sainz and sending a message that the Silver Arrows will be a major force when it comes to Sunday's main race – Russell and Hamilton will share the front row, given Sainz has a grid penalty for taking a new engine this weekend.
Pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen got an excellent start off the line while Verstappen behind him was sluggish. It meant the Haas racer led the first two laps, but eventually the speed difference between the cars told and soon the Red Bull driver had the lead.
Russell and Sainz were soon ahead of the Dane too. Further back, there was a problem for Fernando Alonso who was forced to pit for a new front wing after picking up damage in contact with team-mate Esteban Ocon – the Alpine debrief after the race will no doubt be a frosty one.
Hamilton was soon past Magnussen as well, though that overtake coincided with news from the race director that the Brit may be investigated after the race for an infringement at the start of the race. Daniel Ricciardo and Zhou Guanyu may also face action from the stewards.
Having seen the Alpines come together, the two Aston Martin racers almost collided when Lance Stroll defended very aggressively against Sebastian Vettel, pushing the German onto the grass. "Okay," was the curt message from Vettel over team radio, before he passed the Canadian cleanly on the next lap.
That was when Russell and Verstappen began to trade blows like heavyweights. The Mercedes was behind and had the benefit of DRS on the long straights, but the Dutchman was defending well each time and used the extra speed of his Red Bull to keep hold of the lead on several occasions.
But eventually, after a brief yellow flag when Alex Albon span off the track and out of the Sprint, the Brit got past, using both DRS and a nice slipstream to get in front of Verstappen. And he quickly built a lead of more than a second, meaning the Red Bull racer could not use the drag reduction system to get the place back immediately.
To make matters worse, soon after Sainz was past Verstappen after a bit of contact which knocked the endplate off his front wing. It meant he was then powerless to prevent Hamilton from moving past – it was turning out to be a Sprint to forget for Red Bull.
Verstappen and Sergio Perez had to settle for fourth and fifth behind the two Mercedes cars and Sainz. Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris were sixth and seventh, while Magnussen was able to bring home one point at least, having struggled with the pace of the faster cars around him at the front of the grid.
Full 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix result
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Kevin Magnussen – Haas
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Daniel Ricciardo – McLaren
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
DNF: Alexander Albon
