Max Verstappen started the 2022 Interlagos F1 Sprint race from second position. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen surprised everyone when he took pole position on Friday, but the Dane provided very little resistance to the World Champion behind him. Magnussen got off to a great start on his soft tires but Verstappen comfortably overtook him on the third lap of the race.
Fans all over the world thought that Verstappen was going to win yet another race quite easily. Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver, he started the race with the medium tire compounds. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton looked very fast, as did Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, and they were right on the Dutchman’s tail. It took Russell some time to overtake Verstappen, but he managed to do so with around 10 laps to go. Shortly thereafter, Sainz and Hamilton made the pass on him as well.
The soft tire was suiting all F1 cars very well on Saturday afternoon at Interlagos. This is why it was surprising to see Red Bull choose the medium compound tires for Verstappen’s outing in Sao Paolo. However, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin thinks he knows why the Austrian team chose the yellow-striped tires.
Red Bull wants Max Verstappen to go out with all guns blazing on Sunday
After the F1 Sprint, Shovlin insisted that Red Bull knew what the problem with the medium tires was. On data, the difference between the two compounds was huge and Red Bull still chose to go ahead with the weaker option.
This is because they have only two sets of soft tires available to them. In the long run, Red Bull feels that using them in the main race would be more beneficial, as Verstappen can be significantly faster and overtake his opponents out on track. On top of that, Interlagos is a circuit that provides exciting racing action and plenty of overtaking opportunities. Max Consequently, Verstappen will attempt to win the race from P3 on the grid with an extra set of fresh soft tires at his disposal.
“We knew the medium wasn’t a great tyre,” Shovlin said. “I’m pretty sure that they knew it the problem is. The way that they played their tyres through the weekend, they only had 2 softs. I think it was a case of keeping the softs for tomorrow.”
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Mercedes seal front-row lockout for 2022 Sao Paolo GP
2022 has been a year of learning for Mercedes. At the start, they were massively off the pace compared to Red Bull and Ferrari but they have closed the gap to them quite comprehensively. Russell and Hamilton were blisteringly quick on Saturday afternoon, and they ensured a front-row lockout for the Silver Arrows.
Russell will start the race from P1 ahead of his seven-time World Champion teammate. Carlos Sainz finished the F1 Sprint in second, but he took a five-place grid drop after fitting in new engine components to the F1-75. As a result, Sainz will start the race from P7 whereas his teammate Charles Leclerc will start from fifth position.
