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
Sao Paulo Grand Prix race review as reported by Formula1.com.
George Russell took his maiden Grand Prix victory in some style at Sao Paulo, Mercedes taking their first win and one-two of the season with Lewis Hamilton finishing second over Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Courtesy of their Sprint result and Carlos Sainz’s five-place grid penalty, Russell led Hamilton away at the start, with the Safety Car quickly deployed for a collision between Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen that sent both cars out at Turn 8, bringing out the Safety Car.
The Lap 7 resumption saw Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collide at Turn 2 before Charles Leclerc was sent into the Turn 7 barriers by Lando Norris. Neither of the four cars retired but Verstappen and Norris both took five-second penalties for their incidents.
Hamilton recovered soon after his scrap with Verstappen and the seven-time champion ran second behind Russell when a stoppage for Norris, on Lap 52, brought out a VSC-turned Safety Car.
Under immense pressure, Russell retained his lead over Hamilton on the Lap 60 restart and delivered his first win by a margin of 1.5 seconds over the seven-time champion.
Carlos Sainz was made to work for the final podium spot as, despite being on medium compounds, Perez defended his podium spot for a number of laps after the Safety Car restart. Charles Leclerc asked his team to swap positions with P2 in the championship at the fore of his thinking, but Leclerc was told to settle for fourth.
Perez’s final stint on medium tyres not only cost him a podium, but saw him drop to seventh as the team allowed soft-shod Verstappen ahead in P6. Despite that, Verstappen could not catch P5 finisher Fernando Alonso – though he also declined to hand the place back to his team mate.
Esteban Ocon, who was told not to fight team mate Alonso at the final Safety Car restart, ended up eighth having passed Valtteri Bottas (P9) late on. Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 ahead of his medium-shod team mate Sebastian Vettel by the chequered flag.
Zhou Guanyu declined to pit for softs in the final Safety Car restart and ended up 12th for Alfa Romeo ahead of Mick Schumacher – both drivers promoted as Pierre Gasly took a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane and ended up 14th for AlphaTauri.
Williams were next up, with Alex Albon ahead of Nicholas Latifi, while Yuki Tsunoda started in the pit lane and ended the race 17th.
Sao Paulo has seen high drama since F1 landed earlier this week, with Kevin Magnussen having taken his maiden pole position for Haas on Friday, before George Russell won Saturday’s Sprint and Lewis Hamilton finished third to lock out Mercedes’ first front-row start of the season; Carlos Sainz’s five-place penalty promoted the seven-time champion up a place on Sunday’s grid.
Alex Albon was the only hard-tyred starter, from P19, with Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen, Mick Schumacher, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Nicholas Latifi and pit lane starter Yuki Tsunoda taking mediums – and the rest beginning the race on softs.
A feverous atmosphere gave way to the start, and when the lights went out it was Russell who got away best with Hamilton holding station in second and Verstappen staying ahead of a battling Sergio Perez, Lando Norris (who locked up into Turn 1) and Charles Leclerc.
The Safety Car was then brought out as Magnussen was tipped into a spin by Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 8, where the Haas driver went backwards, hit the McLaren, and sent him into the awaiting barriers – ending both drivers’ races early.
“Damn shame, Kev”, the Dane was told.
The Safety Car circulated until the end of Lap 6, after Alex Albon chose to swap his hards for new mediums – and Leclerc was reassured that a reported engine issue would not plague him for the rest of the race.
Russell again left the field away, with Verstappen right on the tail of Hamilton, and going into Turn 1 the pair were side-by-side. They then made contact at Turn 2, causing damage to the Dutchman’s front wing. Seconds later, Norris and Leclerc collided, sending the Ferrari front-first into the barriers at Turn 7 – but he carried on.
Verstappen took new mediums and a new front wing in a stop that lasted just 10 seconds; Leclerc went for new medium compounds.
“That was not a racing incident, mate,” said Hamilton, while Verstappen lamented a lack of space and said: “Where did he expect me to go?!”
Leclerc’s own comments, meanwhile, had to be bleeped out on the world feed, and soon, five-second penalties would be handed out to Verstappen and Norris.
Hamilton hadn’t picked up major damage and swiftly made it back up to P5 courtesy of moves on Mick Schumacher, Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel. The other Mercedes of Russell had opened up his lead to over a second as the race reached Lap 15.
Hamilton was on the war path, evoking memories of last year’s Interlagos charge, as he then pried P4 off Norris on the 15th lap – when Alonso opened up the pit window in earnest by swapping his mediums for another set to emerge in 16th between Verstappen and Leclerc.
Losing time to the front-runners on medium tyres, Sainz was forced to stop for softs with a stuck tear-off in his rear-right brake duct – as he rejoined in P12 to promote Hamilton back up to third. The Spanish driver passed Albon, Stroll, and Schumacher to place eighth by Lap 22.
Russell and Perez continued to circulate in the lead, with the former telling his Mercedes pit wall that he intended to extend his first stint, while Hamilton was making gains from P3.
Leclerc, having already pitted for mediums after his tussle with Norris, swapped to softs on Lap 23 – dropping him back to 17th behind Tsunoda. A two-second pit stop on the following lap saw Perez switch from softs to mediums, the Mexican emerging behind Bottas in P6 – but losing time in trying to pass the Alfa Romeo. Verstappen also pitted, his stop however lasting 10.7s.
Russell was forced to pit to cover the Red Bull off and, although his stop lasted a second longer, the Mercedes emerged in front of the Red Bull.
Having run the longest on soft tyres, Hamilton pitted from the lead for medium tyres on Lap 30 and emerged fourth, behind Sainz. Now on mediums, the seven-time champion was perhaps hoping to make this a one-stopper with the expectation that his rivals would have stop again.
At the halfway point, Russell therefore led with a five-second margin over Perez, while Sainz was falling behind the lead pair and Hamilton closing in to the third-place Ferrari. As for Leclerc, he was down in P13, while Verstappen was 15th having passed Albon and Tsunoda after serving his penalty.
Sainz took a second pit stop, for new medium tyres, on Lap 37, with the Spaniard emerging fourth and 30 seconds off the lead.
Despite losing time to Hamilton behind and Russell ahead, Perez chose not to react to Sainz’s stop and he continued on his medium compounds. Russell also continued, with an eight-second lead by the end of Lap 40.
Verstappen’s early second stop had brought him back to 10th after a number of midfielders had pitted, and the champion was closing in on Leclerc – who lost time in prying P8 off Norris. The Monegsaque would be told to pit a third time on Lap 45, dropping him from eighth to 14th.
To the crowd’s delight, Hamilton closed in on Perez on Lap 44 and made his move for P2 by the time the pair made it to Turn 1 on the following tour.
Verstappen was also making moves, having made it past Alonso and Norris for P6. His team mate Perez chose to pit a second time for medium tyres on Lap 48 in another rapid stop that saw him fall behind Sainz. Of course, the Mexican had a tyre advantage on his Spanish rival.
Hamilton took that as his cue for a second stop – despite having gone longer in his first stint – to take soft tyres.
“My tyres are good!” he exclaimed furiously after the team implored him to stop – but it was clear that Hamilton’s side had to cover off that Perez stop. He emerged third and now had an eight-second deficit to Sainz – and a two-second lead on Perez.
With 22 seconds on Sainz, Russell chose Lap 50 to make his second stop, returning to softs, and he emerged around two seconds in the lead over the medium-shod Ferrari.
The leaders had played their cards but jeopardy soon reared its head as Lap 52 saw Lando Norris stop at the exit of Turn 10 with a loss of power, to bring out the Virtual Safety Car.
With Norris’s car proving a stubborn obstacle for the marshals, the Safety Car needed to be brought out on Lap 55. The airwaves then lit up…
“You are racing, just be respectful,” Russell was told after pondering the rules of Mercedes engagement to his pit wall. In P8 ahead of Alonso, Ocon was told in no uncertain terms not to fight his team mate at the restart after the duo’s pair of clashes in the Sprint.
Lapped cars were permitted to overtake the Aston Martin Safety Car on Lap 58 and the race would resume on Lap 60.
Mercedes’ case was helped as Perez – on mediums – defended P3 from Sainz in trademark fashion, with the Ferrari driver challenging the Red Bull through the Esses and down to Turn 4 until Lap 63, when the deadlock was finally broken and Sainz swept past into Turn 4. Leclerc easily made it by for P4 soon after.
In the restart, Ocon was almost caught out by a locking-up Bottas but kept himself in check and eventually let Alonso past, with the Spaniard passing Perez for P5 on Lap 65.
Verstappen was released past his team mate to “take some points off Alonso and Leclerc” at the start of Lap 67, and the Dutchman closed into DRS range of Alonso but could not make the move stick. Despite being told to hand the place back, Verstappen declined, and finished sixth.
“I told you already, you guys, don’t ask that again to me – are we clear about that? I gave my reasons, and I stand by it,” the Dutchman said as he crossed the line.
Having pitted three times, Alonso meanwhile rounded out the top five behind fellow three-stopper Leclerc – who, in a battle for P2 in the championship against Perez, pleaded with the team to let him have P3 at Sainz’s expense. Ferrari deemed the swap “too risky”, leaving Sainz in P3.
As for Russell, he not only held off Hamilton in the restart but hung on to keep the seven-time champion behind by more than 1.5 seconds by the chequered flag. As Russell crossed the line for his maiden Grand Prix victory, he shed tears – with Toto Wolff appearing on his phone via video call to congratulate the Briton in the cooldown room.
Hamilton settled for second, but was elated with Mercedes’ first one-two finish of the season.
Perez’s final stint on medium tyres therefore saw him settle for seventh ahead of Ocon, who had made it past Bottas in the final stages of the race. With Bottas ninth, Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10 for Aston Martin – the Canadian having begun on mediums but swapped to softs for his final stint, which gave him an advantage over 11th-placed team mate Vettel.
Vettel ran as high as fifth, even passing Norris early in the race, but fell back, having been undercut by numerous midfielders around Lap 25 – which left the four-time champion out of the points. Medium tyres for his final stint cost him during the Safety Car restart.
Zhou Guanyu finished 12th, a slow second pit stop doing little to help his case, while Mick Schumacher was 13th for Haas, having hit the top 10 briefly in the middle of the race.
With a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, Gasly ended up 14th for AlphaTauri – Zhou and Schumacher the pair to benefit from that.
Albon drove to 15th for Williams, having shrugged off his starting set of hard tyres after just four laps, while Nicholas Latifi took 16th. Yuki Tsunoda ended up 17th having started in the pit lane, with Norris, Magnussen and Ricciardo the three retirees in Sao Paulo.
Mercedes driver and race winner George Russell left “speechless” by maiden Formula 1 win in Brazilian Grand Prix. Motorsport.com has the full story.
George Russell said the “memories came flooding back” as his first-ever Formula 1 grand prix win with Mercedes in Brazil left him “speechless”.
Russell laid the groundwork for his maiden grand prix win with victory in Saturday’s 24-lap sprint race, which yielded him de facto pole for Sunday’s race.
The 2018 Formula 2 champion took a commanding lead at the start, his victory chances boosted by a clash between teammate Lewis Hamilton and world champion Max Verstappen.
Regardless of the melee behind him, Russell delivered a measured drive as Mercedes appeared to be the class of the field, only for his resolve to be tested when a late safety car bunched up the field.
But Russell resisted pressure from Hamilton to take his first-ever win and Mercedes’ first victory in a fraught 2022 season, with the 24-year-old finding redemption for his lost win at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
“I’m speechless. On the in-lap all of these memories sort of came flooding back,” a tearful Russell said immediately after the race.
“Starting off with my mum and dad in go-karting and going through and all the support I’ve had from the rest of my family, my girlfriend, my trainer, my manager.
“And then obviously the likes of Gwen [Lagrue] who gave me the opportunity to get on the programme with Mercedes and James Vowles and Toto [Wolff]. The list is endless. I can’t thank enough and yeah, super proud.”
Russell acknowledged this season has been an “emotional rollercoaster” for everyone at Mercedes after dropping the ball with its troubled 2022 car and praised the Brackley team for capping off a challenging campaign with a win after all.
“What an amazing feeling, just a huge thank you to the whole team for making this possible,” he said.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this season. This race was a really tough race. I felt in control, Lewis was super-fast and then when I saw the safety car I thought ‘oh Jesus this is going to be a really difficult end’.
“And he put me under so much pressure, but so happy to go away with the victory.”
Hamilton was quick to pay tribute to Russell’s “amazing drive” and said he was proud of how Mercedes bounced back from its 2022 blip.
“I’ve got to say huge congratulations to George. What an amazing drive he did today,” Hamilton said.
“He did an amazing qualifying yesterday, so he truly deserves it.
“To my team, so proud of everyone back to the factory and here, this is an incredible result.
“We’ve worked so hard through this year to get a 1-2, to get a win, and so this is hugely deserved from everybody so a big thank you.”
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez fumes as his teammate Max Verstappen defies Formula 1 team orders: “It shows who he really is”. Motorsport.com has the news story.
Red Bull faces a team orders row between its Formula 1 drivers after Max Verstappen defied a call to allow Sergio Perez pass on the final lap in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Verstappen overtook Perez for sixth place following the restart after a late safety car period, and was encouraged to go and overtake Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc ahead to take points off them.
Perez was informed by his engineer, Hugh Bird, that if Verstappen could not overtake Alonso in the closing stages, he would give him the position back to help the Mexican in his push for second place in the drivers’ standings.
Verstappen was instructed on multiple occasions by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, on the final lap to allow Perez to overtake him.
But Verstappen crossed the line 0.4 seconds behind Alonso and four seconds up the road from Perez, who was left to finish seventh.
Lambiase asked Verstappen after the chequered flag: “Max, what happened?”
The two-time world champion replied: “I told you already last time, you guys don’t ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”
With Leclerc finishing fourth for Ferrari, he now enters the Abu Dhabi season tied on points with Perez in the drivers’ championship in the fight for second place.
Upon crossing the line seventh behind Verstappen, Perez said on the radio: “It shows who he really is.”
Team principal Christian Horner could be heard apologising to Perez on the radio as well.
It is thought that some tension dates back to qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, where crash for Perez on his final lap in Q3 denied Verstappen a chance to beat his teammate to pole. Perez went on to score pole and win the race for Red Bull, while Verstappen could only finish third.
Verstappen and Perez’s radio exchanges – in full
VERSTAPPEN
Lambiase: “Max, let Checo through, please.
Lambiase: “Max, what happened?”
Verstappen: “I told you already last time, you guys don’t ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”
PEREZ
Perez: “Thank you for that guys. Thank you.”
Horner: “I’m sorry about that Checo.”
Bird: “We’ll debrief everything afterwards.”
Perez: “It shows who he really is.”
Two-time world champion Max Verstappen ignored team orders and said he had his reasons for not giving Sergio Perez Formula 1 spot at Interlagos. Motorsport.com provides the full details.
Max Verstappen says he had “my reasons” why he didn’t give Sergio Perez a place back at the end of the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix and ignored team orders.
Verstappen overtook Perez for sixth place following the safety car restart, and was told to try and catch Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc ahead on-track.
But Perez was informed that if Verstappen could not gain any more positions, the position would be given back to him in order to aid his bid for second place in the drivers’ championship.
On the final lap, Verstappen was told to let Perez through, only to ignore the call and cross the line four seconds ahead in sixth place.
Verstappen told Red Bull over the radio: “I told you already last time, you guys don’t ask that again to me, OK? Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.”
Perez was left disheartened in seventh place, telling his engineer that it showed who Verstappen “really is.” Perez enters the season final tied on points with Leclerc in the fight for second place.
Speaking in the media pen after the race, Verstappen was asked about the decision to ignore the radio instructions, revealing that he had his reasons and that they had finally been discussed with the team.
“Well, I have my reasons for that,” said Verstappen. “We just discussed that, and I think it was better that we finally sat together and spoke about it, and just moved forward from here.
“For sure, if we go to Abu Dhabi and he needs the points, because they’re tied, it’s not the end of the world, it’s all about who finishes ahead anyway. If he needs the help, I’ll be there.
“But it’s good that we talked about it now and basically cleared everything that was there why I didn’t do it.”
Perez was quoted speaking to multiple media outlets in the pen after the race reflecting on his efforts to help Verstappen win his world titles. At last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Perez held up Lewis Hamilton to bring Verstappen back into contention, a move Verstappen later credited as being instrumental to his eventual championship win.
Perez said he had “no idea” what reasons Verstappen was referring to, adding: “Maybe you should ask him about it.
“Nothing to say really. After all I’ve done for him, it’s a bit disappointing to be honest. I’m really surprised.”
Mercedes feared a water leak on George Russell’s car could have denied him Formula 1 victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix, but opted not to inform him of the issue.
Russell scored his maiden grand prix win at Interlagos on Sunday after controlling proceedings to lead home a 1-2 finish ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
It ended Mercedes’ winless season with one race to spare, and came two years after Russell was cruelly denied a likely victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix when he made a stand-in appearance for the team.
But it emerged after the race that an issue on Russell’s car left Mercedes sweating on him actually getting to the chequered flag, revealing there had been a water leak that emerged at half distance.
“We had a water leak on the car throughout the race, and it wasn’t clear that we could actually make it to the end,” said team principal Toto Wolff.
The team explained that it had concerns at one stage the water leak would leave Russell a handful of laps short of reaching the finish, only for the car to hold on and make the chequered flag.
Russell was not informed there was the issue on his car as Wolff said the team members “all agreed we’re going to let him drive to the end even without water, on whatever was there to cool it, and just try to finish the race.”
Russell defeated Max Verstappen in a wheel-to-wheel fight in the sprint race on Saturday to gain P1 on the grid, and then managed to keep the sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez at bay in the opening stint.
A late threat came courtesy of Hamilton, who was free to race Russell on the last safety car restart and had tyres that were two laps fresher than his younger team-mate’s set of softs.
Russell was heard asking at one stage if the team was going to let the drivers race, but Wolff said team orders was never something that was considered.
“As a team, we always stood for free racing, and we have never done otherwise, unless a driver is mathematically not in contention any more for a championship and the other one is,” said Wolff.
“We were actually looking forward to them racing on par with the same tyre, and we discussed it this morning in the strategy meeting.”
Source: Motorsport.com
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen commented that rival Lewis Hamilton had ‘zero intention’ of leaving space in Brazil Formula 1 clash. Motorsport.com has the news story.
Max Verstappen reckons Lewis Hamilton had ‘zero intention’ of leaving him enough space before they collided at Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
The world champion was attempting to snatch second from Hamilton at the early safety car restart, but came to blows with his Mercedes rival at the Senna Esses.
Having attempted to go around the outside of Hamilton at Turn 1, he then found himself squeezed at the apex of Turn 2 before the pair clashed. The stewards handed Verstappen a five second penalty for being predominantly to blame for the collision.
Speaking about the incident, Verstappen said that he suspected things would not turn out well as soon as he got alongside the Mercedes driver.
“I just felt it, as soon as I was going next to him, that he had no intention to leave me space,” said the Dutchman. “And okay, if you don’t leave me space, are we just going to collide?”
He added: “I thought after last year, we maybe forget about it, we can finally race you know. Because first of all, when I went side by side, I thought okay, let’s have a good race here.
“But then you feel it with a driver, if he’s going to leave space or not. And there was zero intention to leave me space.”
Verstappen said he was slightly taken aback that the stewards decided he was mostly at fault for the incident.
“Yeah, to be honest, I was surprised when I got the five second penalty,” he explained. “I mean, I was not upset. But if you asked me, ‘would I do it again?’ Absolutely.”
Reflecting on the position of the cars, Verstappen reckoned Hamilton could have given him more room without losing the position.
“I was, well I can say, 85% alongside, and my intention is never to crash,” he said. “But I could feel he was just not going to leave me the space into that corner. And then yeah, we collide.
“If he would have just moved a little bit, he probably would have stayed ahead anyway. And it’s a shame.
“I want to race. I want to have a good fight, but when the other one doesn’t want to work with you…”