Mercedes finally ended their long race win drought in style as George Russell won the Brazilian Grand Prix from pole while Lewis Hamilton came home second.
The two Brits made no mistake in an exciting race which saw plenty of crashes in the opening stages. Hamilton was involved in one of them, as he and Max Verstappen made contact – causing damage to the Red Bull driver's front wing, while the seven-time world champion came out of that incident unscathed.
That left Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez as the only people who had a real chance of stopping the Silver Arrows. But they were unable to do so, despite a late safety car allowing them to bunch up right behind the two Mercedes cars with 15 laps to go. Perez disappeared fast, being overtaken by both Ferraris as well as Fernando Alonso and his team-mate Verstappen, who had made his way back up the order.
A chaotic start to the race saw Daniel Ricciardo spin Kevin Magnussen on the first lap. The Dane, who was the official pole sitter after surprising everyone in qualifying, was unable to prevent his Haas from slamming into the side of the McLaren, meaning both were out of the race after just a few seconds.
And that was just the beginning of the drama. Shortly after the safety car restart, Verstappen and Hamilton came together going through the Senna Esses. The Mercedes was sent off the track but did not hit a wall, but the Red Bull took damage to the front wing and the Dutchman was forced to pit for a replacement.
Verstappen was given a five-second time penalty for his part in that incident. As if that wasn't enough, seconds later Lando Norris incurred the same punishment after he clipped Leclerc and sent the Ferrari spinning into a soft Tecpro barrier – remarkably, he was able to continue.
While all that was going on behind him, Russell – who had enjoyed a brilliant start off the line – was able to speed off into the distance. When he came in for his first pit stop on lap 25, he came back out in second place, just in time to get in front of Sebastian Vettel in third place.
Meanwhile, even 10 laps later Verstappen was languishing in 15th place after that damage picked up in the Hamilton incident. It was clear that the Dutchman's winning streak would not be extended to four. But Red Bull still had Perez in the game, in second place behind Russell after the seven-time world champion ducked into the pits.
Alonso was going well despite starting towards the back following his collision with team-mate Esteban Ocon in Saturday's Sprint. But his progress was hampered when he came into the pits for his second stop, and the mechanic changing his rear left wheel struggled to do so – costing the Spaniard several places as that Alpine team-member punched the ground in frustration.
At the front, Perez was making good ground on Russell and for a while looked to be reeling in the Mercedes man. But then the Brit lifted his pace and Hamilton closed in on the Mexican, meaning the Red Bull driver had to focus more on defending rather than hunting down the leader.
And by the start of lap 45, there was a huge roar from the Brazilian crowd, signifying Hamilton had made the move successfully on Perez. He later had to pit to block the undercut from the Mexican, meaning Sainz was the man he was then hunting down in second place.
A virtual safety car was implemented when Norris' McLaren lost power, before a full safety car when the marshals struggled to move the stricken vehicle. Sainz was able to grab a cheap stop, meaning Hamilton was back in second place behind Russell – but they both had Perez and Sainz bunched up right behind them.
Further back, at the restart Ocon was told by his Alpine team in no uncertain terms that he was not to fight with Alonso, who was right behind him with much fresher tyres. There was some resistance from the Frenchman pleading his case over the radio. In the end he did what he was told, after both of them overtook Vettel.
In the battle for the lead, the two Mercedes cars got a great restart and Perez behind them was too busy fighting Sainz and Leclerc behind him to think about challenging Hamilton and Russell. It was clear that the only way they would be denied would be if they made a mistake, or fought each other too hard.
That did not happen, and Russell took the chequered flag ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc was denied his request for team orders and so he finished fourth behind Sainz. Alonso was fifth, and behind him Verstappen was told to let Perez past on the final lap – but refused and crossed the line sixth.
Full 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix result
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso – Alpine
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Sergio Perez – Red Bull
- Esteban Ocon – Alpine
- Valtteri Bottas – Alfa Romeo
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin
- Zhou Guanyu – Alfa Romeo
- Mick Schumacher – Haas
- Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Nicholas Latifi – Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda – AlphaTauri
DNF: Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Lando Norris
