As the cars began to form up on the starting grid for the 2022 Sao Paulo F1 GP, it was the first time seeing the front row having both the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS cars, with George Russell on pole. Only one more race remains and perhaps this is the start of the change of the team’s fortunes.
As the lights went out to start the 71-lap race, Russell got a great start with Lewis Hamilton right on his tail. The lone McLaren of Lando Norris was alongside the two Red Bull cars and by the first turn, it was Max Verstappen ahead. But further back, Norris’ team mate, Daniel Ricciardo had contact with Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen who went into a spin. As the Haas car was spinning, Ricciardo bumped into it again and it went off into the barriers. The race was over for both drivers and even before the other cars had completed the first lap, the F1 Safety Car was on the move.
The order at the front at that point was Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, followed by Sergio Perez and then Norris. After the McLaren driver were the two Ferraris of Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz. Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon, who had started from the back with hard tyres, took the opportunity to come in and switch to mediums.
6 laps passed before the marshals finished clearing the debris from the track and the Safety Car came in. 14 minutes had passed since the race started and Russell was quick to get going. Verstappen was also ready and tried to pass Hamilton but didn’t quite make it and the cars came in contact at the Senna ‘S’. Hamilton would suggest ‘that was no incident’ over the radio.
Further back, Norris and Leclerc also came into contact approaching Turn 10. The Ferrari suffered more damage and had to return to the pits, and it was the same for Verstappen but Hamilton remained on the track. He had dropped 6 places and had to push his way forward again.
When Verstappen rejoined, he was down in 17 while Leclerc was in 18th. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was up to 5th but only for a short while until Hamilton passed by and moved him down.
The Stewards had decided on the two incidents and in the Verstappen-Hamilton incident, the Red Bull driver got a 5-second penalty, while Norris was penalized 5 seconds as well for colliding with Leclerc.
By lap 18, Sainz went into the pits and Hamilton moved into 3rd, closing in on Perez 7 seconds ahead. Leclerc had told his team of concerns about the car’s condition and was asked to come back in. While in the pits, he switched tyres from mediums to softs. Russell came in on lap 24 for his tyre change, along with Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Hamilton had first moved into second when Perez pitted, and then the front of the field, taking over when Russell left it. His team mate rejoined in second, 10 seconds behind and just 3 seconds ahead of Vettel who eventually dropped to ninth when he had to pit. Norris, who had been doing well in the early laps, was down to 10th and had steering issues.
Hamilton gave up his place to pit on lap 35 and Russell moved back into the lead, with Perez just 6 seconds behind. Hamilton lost little time changing tyres and when he rejoined, he was 5th but very quickly was in Perez’ mirrors.
The Ferrari team had a tyre problem again as Sainz was out of sequence due to his early stop. Leclerc was trying his best to make progress while watching out for a possible engine problem that his team had told him not to worry about.
By lap 44, Hamilton (who incidentally also has Brazilian citizenship now) was close enough to start tackling Perez. One lap later, he had passed the Red Bull and was into second, with Perez in third and Sainz fourth.
With both Mercedes-AMG cars in the lead and 24 laps to go, the question was whether there was any team order regarding who should cross the finish line first. Toto Wolff had indicated that the driver in the best position to win could go ahead an do so, and at that time, it looked like Russell would be the one.
Hamilton gave up his place to change tyres and Sainz moved forward, but Russell was comfortably ahead with a 22-second gap. When Hamilton rejoined, he had lost just one place and quickly closed the gap with the Ferrari ahead. He was pushing hard, setting the fastest lap when the yellow flags came out. Norris had stopped at Turn 10 due to power loss and the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was activated.
The Stewards decided to also bring out the real F1 Safety Car on lap 56 and as Russell followed behind it, his big lead dropped to nothing and Hamilton was in his mirrors. Behind him, Perez and Sainz were also preparing to pounce.
With 12 laps remaining, the F1 Safety Car left the track and the race was on again. Esteban Ocon had been ahead of Fernando Alonso and had to be persuaded to let his Alpine team mate pass because he had fresher tyres.
Russell shot off with Hamilton right on his tail. It seemed that he wanted to take over the lead but could not. Although Ocon had agreed to allow Alonso through, he seemed to forget and was trying to get past Vettel. But the Spaniard managed to get past anyway.
Perez was too busy trying to stay ahead of two Ferraris so the gap with the two Mercedes-AMGs began to open up. On lap 63, Sainz managed to push past Perez into third and left Leclerc to deal with him. Alonso meanwhile had moved into sixth and was keeping Verstappen at bay.
It looked like this was going to be a race uncharacteristic of the rest of the season as Perez continued to drop back to sixth, just ahead of Verstappen. A Red Bull driver was not going to be on the podium.
Two laps remained and it was Russell holding on to his lead from Hamilton. Verstappen had gotten past his team mate and it was likely that he would be fighting Alonso right to the end. Hamilton was trying a bit but wasn’t within range to pass.
And it was George Russell’s day at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix as the 24-year old British driver took the chequered flag. His first F1 win (plus the win in the Sprint race the day before) and achieved in just his first year with the Mercedes-AMG team. And as Hamilton followed him past the finish line, it was the team’s first 1-2 of the year as well.
