It will be an all-Mercedes front row for Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, but it won’t be Lewis Hamilton leading from pole.
His Mercedes’ teammate George Russell took his first F1 Sprint victory Saturday, charging by Max Verstappen just after the halfway point in a thrilling race at Interlagos that saw Verstappen fall to fourth at the flag after a collision with Carlos Sainz who went on to take second place ahead of the second Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Haas’ first-time polesitter Kevin Magnussen took the lead at the start as Verstappen on medium compound tires, held P2 under pressure from Russell. Further back, there was contact between Esteban Ocon and Alpine teammate Fernando Alonso that that slowed the Spaniard and eventually dropped him to 15th after a stop for a broken front wing.
At the front, Magnussen’s lead lasted just two laps as at the start of lap 3, Verstappen closed in and slipped by into Turn 1 to take the lead. Russell then used DRS to pass the Haas driver and Sainz dove down the inside of Magnussen to start the Haas driver’s predicted fall down the order.
Further back, Sergio Perez was on the move from P9 at the start and after dismissing AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, he used DRS to close up to McLaren’s Lando Norris at the start of lap eight to claim sixth place. The falling Magnussen was next, and he soon got past the Haas driver to take fifth, just under four seconds behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
At the front, Verstappen was coming under increasing pressure and at the start of lap 12 Russell attacked into Turn 1. The Dutchman shrugged off the initial assault and then fended off a second attack into Turn 4.
With his soft tires still in good shape, Russell had the advantage and though Verstappen defended well there was nothing he could at the start of lap 15 when after another assault in Turn 1 Russell drew alongside after Turn 3 and powered past before they turned in for the Descido do Lago.
Sainz was soon also on the attack. His overtaking move on Verstappen was tight though and as he tried to shut the door there was contact and Verstappen lost his left front-wing end plate.
Hampered by the damage and his choice of tires, Verstappen soon fell in the clutches of Hamilton and in the closing laps was forced to watch them draw away.
Verstappen was able to hang on, however, until the checkered flag, narrowly taking fourth ahead of hard-charging Checo. Sixth place went to the Mexican’s rival for P2 in the championship, Charles Leclerc, while Lando Norris was seventh and the final point went to pole position winning driver Magnussen.
Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 spots.
“It was incredible,” Russell said. “I wasn’t expecting to have that much pace, but I think it goes to show all the hard work everybody is putting in and the progress we as a team have made. These last three races since Austin, the car has been feeling really great. Obviously, it’s difficult to know how Max would have got on had he been on the soft tire, but nevertheless, standing here is a great feeling.”
“It was way more difficult than we expected it somehow,” said Verstappen when asked whether he found the Sprint hard on the medium tire. “I didn’t expect to have that [tire degradation]. Then even on the soft we wouldn’t have been fast enough, so we are clearly struggling on keeping the tires alive.
“So, this is something we need to try and fix for tomorrow. Even though of course there is not a lot we can do but it can’t get worse than this… At the moment [Mercedes] look unbeatable, but we will analyze everything.”
Because of a five-place grid penalty for an engine change, Sainz will fall down the starting order Sunday to seventh, giving Mercedes an all-front row.
“It’s crazy to think that both [Mercedes cars will be] starting on the front row,” Russell said. “Lewis did a great job coming from P8, so it’s going to be exciting. I’m sure Max is going to be flying tomorrow, coming through the pack, but we are in a luxury position that we can maybe split the strategy and go for the win.”
“I managed to make all the positions at the start, or the first couple of laps and get in the fight with Max and George,” said Sainz. “I had to be aggressive because obviously tomorrow I am taking the penalty [of five places, for a new internal combustion engine] and, in the end, I think P2 was the maximum today.
“I was happy with the race, happy with the pace, it’s just that the Mercs look like they’ve picked up the pace a lot recently and they are very quick in the race.”
Alonso had again made contact with his teammate after their first lap scrap the second time in Turn 4 on the same lap which forced Alonso in for repairs. The stewards later ruled that Alonso had been at fault for the second incident with Ocon, handing him two penalty points and a five-second time penalty the dropped him to P18 on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix – Tsunoda, Stroll and Ocon all moving up a place.
“It’s one more race and then it’s over, finally,” Alonso said of Ocon who will be leaving the the team at the end of the season. “I was very close to the wall in Jeddah with him, close to the wall in Budapest, today in Turn 4 now here… Sometimes it’s very competitive inside a team; it happened to him with [Sergio] Perez, with Verstappen here unlapping himself so… it’s one more race.”
“I feel bad for the guys today,” he added, “but I will try to have a good race tomorrow.”
FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2022 – SPRINT
| Pos | Driver | Time/Retired | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30:11.307 | 8 | |
| 2 | +3.995s | 7 | |
| 3 | +4.492s | 6 | |
| 4 | +10.494s | 5 | |
| 5 | +11.855s | 4 | |
| 6 | +13.133s | 3 | |
| 7 | +25.624s | 2 | |
| 8 | +28.768s | 1 | |
| 9 | +30.218s | 0 | |
| 10 | +34.170s | 0 | |
| 11 | +39.395s | 0 | |
| 12 | +41.159s | 0 | |
| 13 | +41.763s | 0 | |
| 14 | +42.338s | 0 | |
| 15 | +50.306s | 0 | |
| 16 | +50.700s | 0 | |
| 17 | +51.756s | 0 | |
| 18 | +53.985s | 0 | |
| 19 | +76.850s | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
Note – Stroll received a 10-second time penalty for a dangerous maneuver. Alonso received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
Greg has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.