The sound of Formula 1 cars was added to the wonderful noise being created by the thousands of fans here at Interlagos, as the pit lane was open, and we had cars on track, making their way to the grid for the start of the 2022 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix. With just two races left of the current campaign, there was just six points separating Sergio Perez in second and Charles Leclerc in third in the drivers’ championship.
Red Bull had never secured a one-two in the drivers’ championship and the Maranello team was hoping to at least prevent the Austrian side from securing that goal, as the Mexican driver started in fourth, with the Monegasque driver in fifth. Charles was on the mediums while both Mercedes and Red Bull drivers were on softs for the first stint of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Ferrari have put both cars on mediums, with Carlos Sainz seventh after his grid penalty.
We were just moments away from lights out: the formation lap was under way, and George Russell was about to start from first place for just the second time in his career. It was a perfectly clean start for Mercedes as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton got away well to hold the top two positions. The Red Bull cars behind them also held station, with Max Verstappen staying ahead of Sergio Perez. Birthday boy Lando Norris had a good start, getting ahead of Charles Leclerc, who started on the slower medium tyres.
After a dream start to the weekend for Kevin Magnussen, it ended in tears: the Haas driver took pole in Qualifying on Friday, but he was out of the race on the first lap after a crash with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was trying to overtake Magnussen up the inside at Turn 9, but they made contact and both cars suffered significant damage as the safety car was deployed.
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Max Verstappen got right on the tail of Lewis Hamilton as the race restarted, and got round the outside of his 2021 rival at the first corner. They then collided on the way into Turn 2 with Verstappen on the inside. Both cars appeared to have suffered significant damage. And what a drama-filled restart: as Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris battle it out, the Ferrari is clipped by McLaren and he spins off into the wall. However, he got his car going again and it looked like he was heading for an early pitstop to fix the issues. Carlos Sainz succeeded where his team-mate couldn’t, cleanly passing Lando Norris for third.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, potentially with a damaged car, is fighting his way back through the field and is up to sixth after passes on Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly.
After having to pit due to the damage they suffered, Charles Leclerc was last in 18th, with Max Verstappen a place ahead of him: the Dutchman was 15 seconds back from the Williams of Alex Albon and was closing the gap at about two seconds per lap, just like the Monegasque. Max Verstappen got a five-second penalty following his incident with Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris got the same punishment for his collision with the Ferrari driver.
Carlos Sainz came in for a pit stop from P4 at the end of lap 17. There was almost drama as his brakes appeared to overheat and continued to smoke as he makes his way out of the pits. However, the problem solved itself and all looked to be well. The Spaniard, who started on mediums, was now on softs. Having come in not so long ago after his incident with Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc stopped again. He got a set of soft tyres on, and came out in 17th, with only Nicholas Latifi behind him. Following his pit stop, Carlos Sainz made three overtakes: he passed Lance Stroll and Mick Schumacher in a matter of moments and then Esteban Ocon.
Lewis Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 29, which suggested he was trying to eek out a one-stop strategy here. The seven-time world champion came out in fourth, with George Russell retaking the lead. Hamilton was about 15 seconds back from Russell, while Carlos Sainz was seven seconds clear of him in third. On lap 26, Charles Leclerc passed Mick Schumacher for P12, while two laps later the Maranello team called Carlos Sainz back to the pits for his second stop: he was back on track in P4 with a new set of mediums.
Charles Leclerc’s recovery continued, but was be a bit nervous about getting past the next car in front of him on track: it was Lando Norris, who he crashed with earlier in the race. This time the Monegasque got past easily, moving to P8.
Lewis Hamilton got the job done into the first corner and moved past Sergio Perez for P2: he was exactly 10 seconds back from team-mate George Russell with 26 laps remaining, just as Charles Leclerc made his third pit of the day, moving to used softs. Norris followed in soon after, which meant Max Verstappen gained two more places without having to make a pass. Sergio Perez come in for his second stop at the end of lap 47: the Red Bull came out in fourth, behind Carlos Sainz, while Mercedes react to Perez’s stop by bringing in Lewis Hamilton. George Russell came in a lap later, with Mercedes not taking any risk here: both of the Silver Arrows were back on the soft tyres they started the race on. George Russell came out just in front of Carlos Sainz to keep the lead.
Lewis Hamilton got the job done into the first corner and moved past Sergio Perez for P2: he was exactly 10 seconds back from team-mate George RUssell with 26 laps remaining, just as Charles Leclerc made his third pit of the day, moving to used softs. Norris followed in soon after, which meant Max Verstappen gained two more places without having to make a pass. Sergio Perez come in for his second stop at the end of lap 47: the Red Bull came out in fourth, behind Carlos Sainz, while Mercedes react to Perez’s stop by bringing in Lewis Hamilton. George Russell came in a lap later, with Mercedes not taking any risk here: both of the Silver Arrows were back on the soft tyres they started the race on. George Russell came out just in front of Carlos Sainz to keep the lead.
On lap 52 Lando Norris pulled up off the track, and we had a Virtual Safety Car. Carlos Sainz pitted under the virtual safety car and this gives him the extra grip he didn’t have to take on the Mercedes in the final stage of the race. Fernando Alonso was also among other drivers to stop. A full Safety Car was then deployed, as the marshals struggled to move Norris’ car, and we were in for an absolutely thrilling finish here. The big winners were Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who pitted under the VSC.
George Russell was on the radio to his team to check what the strategy was when we got the restart, and it looked like he was going to battle against his teammate. As we approached the restart, which left 11 laps of racing, Charles Leclerc was sixth and Max Verstappen 10th.
George Russell made another solid start, and stayed clear of Lewis Hamilton into the first corner! It was a great restart for Charles Leclerc, who immediately passed Valtteri Bottas to go fifth. He was right behind the battle for third between his team-mate Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, as the Spanish driver managed to overtake the Mexican and move up to third place, with Charles Leclerc also also taking advantage of Perez’s old soft tyres to overtake him for fourth.
George Russell therefore took his first Formula 1 victory, and Mercedes’ first of the season, winning the Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of his Maranello teammate, with Scuderia Ferrari finishing a solid P3 and P4 at Interlagos, a great recovery race for both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after a difficult weekend in Brazil.
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