Category: Motor Racing

This is the new aggressive-looking AMR23 from Aston Martin. The team created this 2023 Formula 1 racer “without compromise” in a bid to move up the competitive order.

After a challenging start to the 2022 season, where the Silverstone-based outfit had to change concept early on, it believes it has made a good step over the winter period.

Technical director Dan Fallows said the new AMR23 was 95 percent different from its predecessor, with the outfit having adopted some key changes heading in to 2023.

This includes a heavily revised front wing, new sidepods that incorporate a much more aggressive sweeping inner ramp, and a different engine cover that includes a larger roll hoop inlet.

Fallows said that Aston Martin had not wanted to hold back in pushing the boundaries of what was possible, as it set sights on moving up the grid.

“The design team was adamant that it wanted to tackle these regulations without compromise,” he said. “We want to move up the grid and start challenging the teams at the front – and you can’t do that by sitting back and being conservative.

“AMR23 is a significant development of the car we refined in the latter half of 2022 – and we have improved it in every critical area. It optimises the solutions we felt would offer us the most performance, and it embodies the joint vision we have embraced and have built together over the recent months.”

Despite the extensive nature of the changes to the car, Fallows was clear that the team had carried over a lot of the positives of last year’s car.

“We went into this year trying to be bold and aggressive, to try to take on the lessons from last year,” he said.

“We did make quite a bit of progress through AMR22. We wanted to make sure that this is a sensible evolution of that, but it also gives us a really good platform to develop on.

“But, at the same time, we wanted to make sure that it was aggressive: to give a big challenge to all of the engineering team to make sure that they really push themselves. And I think you can see that, in the design of the car.”

New signing Fernandno Alonso joins the team this year, replacing the four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who retired from the sport in the final race at Abu Dhabi. The former Alpine driver will race alongside Lance Stroll for the upcoming season.

This is the 2023 Formula 1 car from McLaren, celebrating the team’s 60th anniversary of its 1963 founding.

In a launch event at its Woking factory, McLaren also presented new driver Oscar Piastri alongside Lando Norris, and Andrea Stella, who takes over as team principal following Andreas Seidl’s departure to the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo squad at the end of last year.

The MCL60 appears to be very much an evolution in terms of the aerodynamic concept begun with the MCL36, with additional updates to the sidepods which the team switched to running last year, in a similar style to those featured on the successful Red Bull RB18.

The new car’s sidepods have been tightened and feature a bigger undercut compared to its predecessor, which suggests McLaren is being less conservative when it comes to the cooling demands of its second car built to Formula 1’s new ground-effects rules.

Speaking to the media after the MCL60’s launch event, McLaren boss Zak Brown said: “I think we have identified the shortcomings of last year’s car and worked hard to tackle it on this year’s car.

“I think we got most of it right, but we know there’s still a couple areas that we’re not where we want to be.”

The MCL60’s livery is also broadly similar to the colour scheme the MCL36 was running by the end of 2022 – with orange patches added to the rear wing and removed from the front wing.

The new McLaren is again running with a large chunk of bare carbon fibre at the centre of its livery as the team – along with many of its rivals judging by the looks of the cars revealed so far in the pre-season – again strives to operate at the 798kg weight limit.

The Scuderia AlphaTauri team showed off its new colour scheme at an event hosted in the Lincoln Centre, during New York fashion week.

The tweaked livery features slightly more red than last year, which has been prompted by a new sponsorship deal with PKN Orlen.

Team principal Franz Tost said that the squad’s decision to hold its livery launch in the United States was testament to the growth of Formula 1 in the country.

“As we know, Formula 1 has seen a huge increase in popularity due to the likes of Netflix and social media over the last few years,” he said.

“So, it’s extremely important that we continue to grow in this market, which is why I’m pleased we were able to launch our 2023 livery here today in New York City to show our appreciation to the US audience.”

AlphaTauri is coming off the back of a quite difficult 2022 campaign, where it finished ninth in the constructors’ championship after failing to make the most of the opportunities of the new rules.

The team’s biggest problem was a lack of consistency with its car, with Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda able to fight for some good points on some weekends but then being well adrift on others.

The AT03 appeared especially well-suited to slow speed venues but struggled more at the faster circuits when downforce demands increased.

There have been suggestions that the team will go for a different concept with its AT04 that could bring it more in line with what sister team Red Bull has done.

The 2023 designs that have been revealed by other teams are already pointing towards a number of teams taking ideas from last year’s dominant RB18, so it would make perfect sense for AlphaTauri to follow suit.

AlphaTauri has also made some changes on the driver front with Gasly having been replaced by Nyck de Vries.

The former Formula E driver was signed by the team in the wake of his impressive Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix, when he stood in for Alex Albon at Williams, taking a ninth-place result.

AlphaTauri has high hopes that de Vries, despite being a rookie, can help give the team the guidance it needs to move up the order.

Speaking last year, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko said: “Of course. Yuki is young and doesn’t have this experience and background, so [Nyck] should lead the team.

“We will see how it goes next year, but from the experience and the personality he has, he should be the team leader.”

This is the new look from Alfa Romeo with the C43, featuring an eye-catching red and carbon black livery and some interesting aerodynamic tweaks as part of 2023 rules.

The C43’s livery has been designed by Alfa Romeo’s main road car styling department, without the white that has been part of the established look since the company first joined forces with Sauber as a sponsor in 2018.

Alfa Romeo’s deal with the Swiss organisation ends this year prior to two transition seasons with Ferrari power before the team becomes the works Audi outfit in 2026.

The new livery marks both Alfa’s final fling in Formula 1 and the switch of title sponsor from Orlen to Stake.

The team unveiled a show car at a launch event in Switzerland, as well as issuing CGI images. The real C43 will be seen for the first time when it undertakes a filming day in Barcelona later this week.

New Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl has opted to keep a low profile for the time being as he begins his main task of building up the organisation ahead of Audi’s arrival.

Alfa Romeo will thus be overseen on race weekends by managing director Alessandro Alunni Bravi, who has been nominated as team representative.

“Bringing a car to life is a long process which touches every department of a racing team, therefore it’s a moment of great pride to see it unveiled today,” said the Italian.

“We chose to do it in front of our fans, close to our home, because the launch of a new car is not only a moment to state your objectives for the season ahead – it’s also a time to give back to the people who have supported you, be it in the grandstands, in front of the TV or back at the factory, and express our gratitude for their passion and their belief in our project.

“Our new car is the results of months of work, but today is just the beginning of a journey. We need to keep working hard, with humility and dedication, to bring performance to the track.

“Everyone in the team is committed to this target and I am confident we will reap the rewards of our work.”

The team describes the C43 as an evolution of its predecessor. However, it features substantial changes at the rear, with a new gearbox, rear suspension and cooling layout, with all the changes designed to address weaknesses that were apparent last year.

The other key focus was reliability after the team suffered a series of problems in 2022.

“I am very proud of what we have achieved over these last months, because creating a new car is always a massive effort from the team,” said technical director Jan Monchaux.

“This car is an evolution of last year, reflecting the new regulations and introducing major changes in the areas where we found improvements to be needed.

“I hope it’s going to be quicker than the successful car we had last year, that’s what matters most, and more reliable as well – we have put a lot of effort in this direction.

“Now, it’s time to get to the track and see how this car performs. I’m happy to get back to racing and I’m confident there will be much more to come from us soon.”

The Williams Racing team has revealed their 2023 car livery, as well as introducing new driver Logan Sargeant alongside Alex Albon.

In a dedicated event organised at its Grove factory, Williams showcased the colour scheme that will eventually be used on the FW45 car the team is currently finishing building.

The 2023 livery bears a considerable resemblance to the colours with which it ended running in the 2022 season, albeit with more of the upper surfaces painted in a new matte finish compared to the largely all-black carbonfibre approach it had to use to help hit Formula 1’s minimum weight requirements last year.

The livery, which was showcased on an FW44 model, does feature prominent new branding afforded to Gulf International as the oil company has been signed as a new partner for 2022 after its deal with McLaren ended at 2022’s conclusion.

Williams described its 2023 livery as an “evolution” of what adorned the FW44 and was “retaining the brand visual cues which features a contrasting diamond shape and flashes of red and blue, embodying the exciting new era of Williams Racing [under Dorilton Capital ownership]”.

Although it did not show the finished FW45, a Williams statement described it overall as “an evolution of the FW44”, although featuring what it calls a “heavily evolved” sidepod concept, with additional “modifications to the front suspension layout as well as the major external aerodynamic surfaces”.

Williams claims its soon-to-be released 2023 challenger is “more aerodynamically efficient than the FW44” with “more overall downforce and improved handling characteristics”.

The FW45’s livery was revealed by Williams board member James Matthews and Gulf CEO Mike Jones, flanked by Albon, Sargeant and 2023 Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick, who remains part of the Williams driver academy she joined in 2019 and from which Sargeant graduates this year.

Ex-Mercedes strategy boss James Vowles was recently announced as Williams’ replacement for Jost Capito as team principal but was not present at the livery launch as he will only start working for the squad on 20 February following his release from Mercedes.

Matthew Savage, Williams’ board chairman, said: “As Williams Racing continues its transformation, we’re proud to unveil this year’s livery.

“We are excited about this year’s car, and I cannot thank the entire team at Grove enough for their hard work to get ready for the season. I am delighted to welcome both new and existing partners to our journey.

“With our new team principal James Vowles joining us later this month, as well as our exciting driver line-up of Alex and Logan, Williams Racing will be giving its all in 2023.”

Albon added: “I’m really excited to be starting back for another year with the team. The car looks great and will hit the track at Silverstone.

“The team has worked really hard last year and over the winter to address some key areas in our car, putting in the work to try and maximise what we get out of the car for 2023, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the FW45 can do.

“We also welcome new partners to the team this year, so it’s great to have them onboard.”

Sargeant said he is “really excited for the season to get started after what, for me, feels like a long winter!”

“I’m super motivated and we’ve put a lot of hard work in,” he continued. “The car is looking amazing and it shows the huge effort the team has put in the off-season, so I’m looking forward to getting started at Silverstone before heading out to Bahrain.”

The defending world champions Red Bull Racing has unveiled their 2023 livery at a New York launch event.

Red Bull opted to hold its season launch in the Big Apple in front of its American title sponsor Oracle, revealing a look similar to its previous colour schemes on a show car.

Oracle continues to occupy the prime sponsor slots on the car. Its actual 2023 challenger, the RB19, is still kept tightly under wraps.

The Red Bull launch was accompanied by the news that Ford will return to Formula 1 as the team’s engine partner from the 2026 season onwards.

The Blue Oval returns after a 22-year hiatus when it last badged the Cosworth engines used by the Jaguar Racing team.

Red Bull is already far down the line with its own engine design for the new 2026 power unit regulations at its Red Bull Powertrains division, but had been open to an OEM partnership after the collapse of a potential deal with Porsche.

Until then the Milton Keynes outfit will continue to work with Honda, which has an increased presence on the car just 15 months after officially withdrawing from Formula 1.

Drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are aiming to replicate Red Bull’s unprecedented 2022 season in which it finally broke Mercedes’s eight-year streak to win the constructors’ championship, its first teams’ title since 2013.

Verstappen wrapped up his second drivers’ world title in Japan, with four rounds to go, as Perez lost out to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by three points in the battle for second position.

The Red Bull driver also set an all-time record with his haul of 15 Grand Prix wins in a single season, breaking a record previously shared by Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher.

For 2023, Red Bull is expecting fierce competition from both Ferrari and a resurgent Mercedes.

Its challenge is hampered by a ten percent reduction in wind tunnel time as part of its punishment for breaching 2021’s cost cap.

That reduction is compounded by Red Bull having the smallest wind tunnel allotment out of all teams as part of Formula 1’s Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions, a success penalty for being the reigning world champion.

Haas Formula 1 team became the first Grand Prix outfit to unveil their 2023 car with a set of digital renderings of the new livery that will be run on the VF-23 this season.

The white, red and black look echoes the logos of new Haas title sponsor MoneyGram, whose involvement was announced at last year’s United States Grand Prix.

The revised livery is broadly similar to last season’s at the front, but with a much-extended area of black on the sidepods, engine cover and rear wing.

The new car will be shaken down at a filming day at Silverstone on February 11 prior to the start of official testing in Bahrain on February 23.

The team has yet to reveal whether Kevin Magnussen or new recruit Nico Hulkenberg will complete the shakedown.

Hulkenberg, who returns this year after three years without a full-time race seat, had his first opportunity to drive for the team at the Abu Dhabi test in November.

“I obviously share everyone’s enthusiasm around the livery unveil,” said team principal Gunther Steiner.

“Not least as it’s a checkpoint in the pre-season calendar which means we’re another step closer to doing the thing we actually want to be doing – and that’s go racing.

“I like the livery, it’s undoubtedly a more elevated and modernised look which is fitting as we move into a new era alongside MoneyGram as our title partner.

“It’s an exciting time of year for F1 and it’s great that we’re first out the gate to showcase our livery but our attention is firmly on getting the VF-23 on track and preparing for the season ahead. We really have something to build on following last year’s performances.

“The whole organisation has been working hard to reach this point, and obviously in Kevin and Nico we have two proven points-scoring talents locked in behind the wheel. I can’t wait to get started.”

Team owner Gene Haas made it clear that the target is to finish in the points more regularly this season.

“I was very pleased to welcome MoneyGram as title partner for the 2023 season and beyond, and it’s exciting to see our first livery unveiled together as MoneyGram Haas F1 team,” said Haas.

“We head into a new season buoyed by some strong team performances last year and a return to points-paying finishes.

“The aim for the 2023 season is naturally to do that more consistently and with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg I certainly believe we’ve got an experienced driver pairing more than capable of delivering those points on a Sunday.”

Hopefully the upcoming season will move Haas up the competitive order with consistent point scoring. The team did achieve a pole position at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix late last year.

Two-time world champion Max Verstappen signs off this 2022 season with his 15th victory, a new record in Formula 1, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver dominated the season finale up front after making a solid start, while behind Charles Leclerc held off Sergio Perez to seal second place in the drivers’ championship.

With Verstappen in command up front and the two Mercedes cars lacking race pace, the main interest focused on a strategy off-set between the one-stopping Leclerc and the two-stopping Perez in a tense final stint.

At the start, Perez launched well off the line to have a look down the inside of polesitter Verstappen at Turn 1 but was never a serious threat, while Leclerc held his third place starting spot and Lewis Hamilton beat Carlos Sainz into fourth.

Leclerc had a small look at attacking Perez into the Turn 5 hairpin further around the opening lap, but the initial action then became Sainz reattacking Hamilton into Turn 6 at the end of the Yas Marina track’s main back straight.

The Ferrari got alongside under braking at the left-hander and he edged Hamilton off over the kerbs, where, like against Verstappen in 2021, the Mercedes scampered over the runoff after briefly getting airborne and held fourth.

As the Red Bull duo eased away from Leclerc, who was then being hounded by Hamilton, the stewards cleared Sainz of forcing Hamilton off and instead looked at whether the Mercedes driver had gained by cutting the Turn 7 runoff.

Mercedes therefore ordered him to give Sainz the place back, which gave Leclerc breathing room.

He nevertheless dropped back from the leading pair across the first phase of the race, before Verstappen began to drop Perez and Leclerc homed back in.

Perez became the first driver to stop on lap 15 of 58 to go from mediums to hards, while Verstappen and Leclerc stayed out for five and six further laps respectively to do likewise, which gave them a tyre life advantage over the Mexican for the second stint, Perez also having lost time battling with the one-stopping Sebastian Vettel with a Turn 6 lock-up and off on his outlap.

Leclerc had emerged from his stop just ahead of Sainz – another early stopper – and he then began to reel in Perez with a series of strong laps.

The Ferrari’s pace was so strong that he got to just 1.5 seconds behind Perez and was ordered to “box opposite” the Red Bull on lap 33 – the undercut being very powerful and leading Perez’s team to pit him on that tour.

Ferrari then asked Leclerc if he could sustain his pace and tyre life to the finish on a “Plan C” one-stopper, which he reckoned he could just about manage.

Leclerc’s charge to reach Perez had brought him to around five seconds back from Verstappen by the time Perez stopped, but the leader, by now set on the same one-stopper, eased away over the rest of the race to win by 8.7 seconds – offering Perez advice on how his hards were holding up on a much longer stint and indicating he could push flatout to the end.

Perez’s task was to close a 20 seconds gap to Leclerc in 25 laps, with Sainz and George Russell, who had passed Hamilton in the first stint when the seven-time world champion struggled for pace and suggesting his floor had been damaged in his lap one off, pitting out of his way as they took the two-stopper.

Perez therefore just had to clear Hamilton and various backmarkers, with the Red Bull catching the back of the Mercedes on lap 45.

As the raced down the straight into Turn 6, Perez attacked Hamilton by locked up here again and went deep, which helped the Mercedes pass back by into the Turn 9 hairpin – in scenes reminiscent by reversed from their battle in this race a year ago that so helped seal Verstappen’s first title.

Perez did not attack at Turn 6 on the next time by but instead waited for a second helping of DRS before diving down the inside of the Mercedes – which retired late on after Hamilton’s gears stopped working in a suspected hydraulics failure aboard his W13 – at Turn 9

By this stage, Perez had 9.6 seconds gap to close to Leclerc in 12 laps and both Red Bull and Ferrari initially believed he would make the catch.

But Leclerc was able to eeke out impressive life from his aging hards and Perez’s pace also back to drop from lap to lap – his passage also not helped being held up by Pierre Gasly at Turn 6 on lap 56 as the AlphaTauri chased Alex Albon’s Williams, which earned Gasly an angry gesture for his soon-to-be former stablemate.

It was close, by Leclerc held on to keep second by 1.3 seconds over Perez, with Sainz fourth and Russell fifth – a potential battle between this pair headed off by the Mercedes needing to serve a five-second penalty at its second stop after being released into Lando Norris’s path at its first after a slow left-rear tyre change.

Norris, who had passed Russell on lap one before being overcome again in the early stages, held off a late-charging Esteban Ocon to seal sixth by 1.0 seconds.

Lance Stroll gained late on with the extra grip afforded by the two-stopper, while Vettel just ran out of laps to reel in fellow one-stopper Daniel Ricciardo – the German finishing 0.6 seconds and having been frustrated by his strategy meaning running longest of all in the first stint and so being passed by a string of rivals.

The only other incident of note was Mick Schumacher clipping Nicholas Latifi at Turn 5 on lap 40 and spinning the Haas into the outside barriers, from which both were able to drive away.

Williams ordered Latifi to retire on the final lap with an unspecified problem, joining Fernando Alonso as the other DNF runner – the Alpine stopping on lap 28 due to a suspected water leak.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in setting a new achievement in Formula 1 with the most wins. What a remarkable winning performance by Red Bull and yet this Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be remember as the final goodbye to Sebastian Vettel, the previous Red Bull champion who is retiring from the sport. Danke Seb and thanks for the memories.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27:45.914
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +8.771s
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull +10.093s
4 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari +24.892s
5 George Russell Mercedes +35.888s
6 Lando Norris McLaren +56.234s
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine +57.240s
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +76.931s
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +83.268s
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +83.898s
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +89.371s
12 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1 lap
13 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +1 lap
15 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1 lap
16 Mick Schumacher Haas +1 lap
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
18 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes DNF
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams DNF
– Fernando Alonso Alpine DNF

The 2022 constructors’ champions achieved a front row lock out in the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as Max Verstappen takes pole position from Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

The two-time champion improved on his last lap to run to a one minute, 23.824 seconds effort, pipping Perez by 0.22 seconds. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc is set to lead a Ferrari second row on race day over the Mercedes contenders.

Purportedly, Q1 pacesetter Verstappen’s RB18 suffered a start-up problem to delay his entry into the final session. Perez did query this partner’s initial absence – a faulty steering wheel switch was said to be the cause.

Checo, who was fastest in Q2 responded with a personal best first sector, then ran purple in the middle part of the lap. Although he struggled for traction and slid out of the final corner set a time of one minute, 24.281 seconds.

But Verstappen’s peerless run through the last part of the lap on his first Q3 go moved him to a one minute, 23.988 seconds. That put him 0.328 seconds ahead of Perez as Sainz split the Red Bull duo.

Leclerc notched fourth position ahead of the Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton leading the batting over George Russell.

For the climax, Leclerc ran early and turned up the wick as he improved on his personal best first and second sectors and then flashed purple in the final part of the lap. That guided him to second place but he was still down by 0.14 seconds compared to Verstappen’s pacesetting first lap from the top ten shootout.

Carlos Sainz ran slower in sector one so, despite lowering his time eventually, he was only fourth to tee up the Red Bull duel for the final pole.

Verstappen improved in all three sectors to be the only driver to break into the one minute, 23 seconds, with his 0.824 seconds effort pulling 0.228 seconds over Perez – who was best of all in the middle sector.

Despite Hamilton topping sector one, he was nearly 0.7 seconds down in fifth as Russell chalked sixth over Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon.

Sebastian Vettel had his complaints over the Red Bulls blocking him in the final corner in Q1 and Q2 to cost a tenth, but he nevertheless snared ninth ahead of his last grand prix. Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, completed the top ten.

Fernando Alonso was the notable casualty in Q2, with the two-time champion eventually shuffled back to P11 and he duly missed the shootout for pole to Ricciardo by only three hundredths.

The two-time champion left himself at risk when he climbed to only ninth after his last flying attempt.

As Norris and Leclerc left it late to improve while Alonso did not run again with 20 seconds to go, he was shuffled back to head Yuki Tsunoda and departing Haas driver Mick Schumacher in P13.

Lance Stroll came up short for Aston Martin to take only P14 as Zhou Guanyu was P15.

Alonso had already flirted with elimination. He sat P16 when the Q1 flag was waved. But, despite missing his personal best in the first two sectors, he scraped P14 with his next lap.

That became P15 when Tsunoda gained on his final flier, and the Alpine was ultimately spared by 0.052 seconds as shock Brazil polesitter Kevin Magnussen was knocked out in P16.

The Haas driver did at least trump out-going AlphaTauri racer Pierre Gasly, while Valtteri Bottas failed to progress into Q2 for the second time in as many races – the Alfa Romeo only P18 after struggling to heat its tyres for the beginning of the lap owing to a traffic queue.

Alex Albon pipped Nicholas Latifi by 0.03 seconds as the Williams teammates ran slowest of all.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen with pole position in the final race of the 2022 season. It will be fascinating if the leading Red Bull driver will be a team player to help Sergio Perez secure the runner-up position in the drivers’ standing by helping his colleague in the race.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:23.824
2 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:24.052
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.092
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:24.242
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.508
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:24.511
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:24.769
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:24.830
9 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:24.961
10 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:25.096
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:25.219
12 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:25.225
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:25.045
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:25.359
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:25.408
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:25.834
17 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:25.859
18 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:25.892
19 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.028
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1’26.054

Mercedes finally ended its winless Formula 1 run as George Russell scored an awesome team result with 1-2 in the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided.

Polesitter Russell powered clear at two safety restarts to avoid a battle with his teammate, who he was free to race, as Hamilton recovered from his fall to eighth position after tagging with 2021 rival Verstappen in what was an action-packed penultimate round of the campaign at Interlagos.

With Red Bull’s day getting worse when Sergio Perez was stuck on the wrong tyre for the final stint, Ferrari could capitalise to take third and fourth – Carlos Sainz heading Charles Leclerc despite the Austrian Grand Prix winner wanting team orders to secure second in the championship.

Similarly, despite instructions to do so, Verstappen did not hand back position to Perez on the final lap to head a Red Bull 6-7.

At the start, the Mercedes launched strongly to hold the lead as both Red Bulls came under considerable threat from Lando Norris, who launched past medium-tyre starter Charles Leclerc for fifth position.

Sergio Perez ultimately had the McLaren covered as Russell ran well clear of his teammate, who in turn had plenty of breathing space over Verstappen before a first-lap safety car.

Sensational qualifying topper Kevin Magnussen, who had fallen to eighth in the sprint race, appeared slow off Turn 7 and contact was made in the right-rear by the chasing Daniel Ricciardo.

That pitched his Haas machine into a spin and as Magnussen rolled back, he thumped into the honey badger – who is without a front-line drive for 2023 – to pitch him into the tyre barriers.

After the protracted clean-up, green flags returned at the end of lap six of 71 but Russell held the restart until he was level with the pit entry and then floored it clear of his teammate.

The Red Bulls reacted well to give Verstappen an opportunity to take second on the outside of Turn 1 but as the track snaked right, he made contact with bitter 2021 title rival Hamilton.

Both took to the run-off. Verstappen came off worse with front wing damage and pitted for mediums, while Hamilton stayed out but suspected floor damage as he dropped to eighth.

The stewards deemed Verstappen to be more at fault and awarded him a five-second penalty.

Then Leclerc was in the wars when, attempting to pass Norris through Turn 7, the McLaren MCL36 understeered into the side of the Ferrari to send it spinning into the outside barrier.

Leclerc was able to resume to prevent a second swift safety car and stopped for mediums, while the stewards also handed Norris a five-second penalty in a much less debatable call.

All this drama left Russell to lead Perez by 1.6 seconds as Sainz was a further 3 seconds in arrears ahead of Norris, ninth-starting Sebastian Vettel, Gasly and the remaining Haas of Mick Schumacher.

Hamilton was on the move again, picking off Vettel through the middle sector and then using DRS to demote Norris into Turn 1 for fifth, which became fourth when Sainz was forced to pit on lap 18 for soft tyres after a visor tear-off caused his right-rear brake duct to catch fire.

Russell, meanwhile, was content on his C4 softs and instructed the pitwall to leave him out as he built a 3.5 seconds gap to Perez while Hamilton was closing on the Mexican by 0.4 seconds per lap.

Red Bull responded with a lightning 2 seconds pitstop for Perez as he was swapped to mediums but re-joined behind Valtteri Bottas and was hugely delayed by the Alfa for the rest of the lap.

Mercedes reacted by calling in leader Russell next time around on lap 25 for his switch to mediums, which placed Hamilton on his starting soft tyres into the lead by just over 10 seconds.

But with the seven-time champion a second per lap slower than Russell, he was pitted on lap 30 for a 3.3 seconds change to mediums. Hamilton resumed in fourth, 8 seconds in arrears of Sainz’s F1-75.

As the temperatures dropped, the Mercedes pair seemed to come alive on the medium tyre. Once Sainz pitted again for mediums to undercut Perez, Russell was lapping 0.6 seconds faster than the Red Bull (to lead by 8 seconds) and Hamilton 0.8 seconds quicker to close to within 2 seconds come lap 40.

A sterling run through the first sequence gave Hamilton a run at Perez into Turn 4 on lap 44. Perez had him covered initially but then equipped with DRS and a slipstream, the Silver Arrows racer could out-drag the Red Bull up the main straight to reclaim second position.

Red Bull pitted Perez for mediums on lap 48 and although he resumed in fourth, the powerful undercut forced the Mercedes team into action as both stopped for softs for the final stint.

Hamilton notably protested the call before pitting and lost out to Sainz, whose mediums were now 12 laps old, as Russell rejoined a slender 1.1 seconds before a virtual safety car period.

McLaren recorded a double DNF when Norris parked up, which created a window for Sainz to come in for a cheaper pitstop and take on a set of scrubbed softs for the closing 17 laps.

Then the full safety car was deployed to close the field and, as per both Mercedes drivers’ comments pre-race, no team orders were imposed to leave Hamilton clear to race Russell.

Russell repeated his earlier work at the second restart by delaying his launch until level with the pit entry, with both W13s pulling clear of Perez, who had to robustly defend against Sainz until the DRS was reactivated and he passed for third on lap 63 down the back straight.

With the Red Bull preoccupied, Russell led his teammate Hamilton home by 1.5 seconds to secure his first grand prix victory as Mercedes finally got off the mark in 2022 with a 1-2 result.

Leclerc was able to demote Perez further with DRS to give Ferrari a somewhat flattering 3-4, while Fernando Alonso – rapid in the final stint to pass his feuding stablemate Esteban Ocon, Bottas and Vettel – added to the Red Bull pain as he snared fifth six laps from the finish line.

On his inferior mediums, Perez did not fight Verstappen into Turn 1 as the RB18 pair walked away with sixth and seventh ahead of Ocon, Bottas, Lance Stroll and Vettel – the retiring four-time champion also suffering late on when shod with the unfavoured medium tyres.

Crikey! George Russell is a winner in Formula 1. The sprint win was a nice bonus but to take a proper Grand Prix victory was well deserved thanks to a great drive out front in the Mercedes. To lead a team 1-2 is a superb effort.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:38:34.044
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.529s
3 Carlos Sainz . Ferrari +4.051
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +8.441
5 Fernando Alonso Alpine +9.561
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull +10.056
7 Sergio Perez Red Bull +14.080
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine +18.690
9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +22.552
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +23.552
11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +26.183
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +26.867
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +29.325
14 Mick Schumacher Haas +29.899
15 Alexander Albon Williams +36.016
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams +37.038
17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1 lap
– Lando Norris McLaren DNF
– Daniel Ricciardo McLaren DNF
– Kevin Magnussen Haas DNF