George Russell becomes F1’s newest Sprint winner after securing a victory in Brazil. The Briton braved to go wheel-to-wheel with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to be crowned F1’s 3rd Sprint winner after Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton finished P2 and P3. But Sainz will be taking a 5-place Grid Penalty on Sunday. Which means Lewis will be promoted to P2.
This rewards Mercedes with their first front-row lockout for a Grand Prix since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. And the Silver Arrows’ first win, albeit not a proper race win of the season.
Russell’s win and Mercedes’s favourable starting position in Interlagos do set them up for a probable first-race win on Sunday. And the hopes are high at the Brackley-based team’s garage.
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George Russell’s risks pay off its dividends
Mercedes put George Russell and Lewis Hamilton on softs. While Red Bull opted to field Max Verstappen on mediums. The Dutchman took an early lead, overtaking polesitter Kevin Magnussen on lap 4, but later struggled with his tyres.
George Russell seized the opportunity and kept applying pressure on the 2022 Champion. The Mercedes driver had multiple attempts on the Red Bull but was unable to stick his car ahead. Finally, on lap 15, Russell made a clean move on the run to Turn 4 to secure the lead.
Russell explained that he was cautious and was hunting for the best opportunity to make a move. He was aware of Verstappen’s tyre issues and was sure to make it ahead sooner or later.
“You’ve got to manage that risk, reward, ” said Russell. “Even though I was dying to get that victory, I didn’t want to risk it too much and end up with no points and starting at the back. But you know, we made it stick third time lucky.”
Russell looks ahead for an exciting Sunday, He said, “It’s crazy to think that both cars are starting on the front row. Lewis did a great job coming from P8, so it’s going to be exciting.”
He added, “I’m sure Max is going to be flying tomorrow coming through the pack. But we are in a luxury position where we can maybe split the strategy and go for the win.
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Lewis Hamilton aiming for a 1-2 in ‘home’ Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton will start behind George Russell in P2. It will be The 7-time World Champion’s first front-row start of the year. And he believes Mercedes have the best chance to finish in the top two.
Lewis is adored by the Brazilian. And with the Briton recently honoured with citizenship ahead of the race. And he would love to win his first race of the year in front of his home fans, “A win here in Brazil would be incredible.”
Hamilton said, “Getting a one-two, either way, I’m going to be happy, personally, just because of how hard everybody’s worked.”
Hamilton added, “We’re going to try as hard as we can, if we can have some degradation tomorrow and hope for some good weather we will have a good fight on our hands.”
The Briton just dodged a possible penalty for an incorrect start during the sprint. He alongside Guanyu Zhou and Daniel Ricciardo was investigated by the Stewards for failing to line up correctly within their allocated grid boxes. The trio avoided a penalty as the FIA deemed the boxes were slightly smaller than usual.
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