Russell takes maiden win, Hamilton supports Mercedes 1-2 finish in 2022 F1 Sao Paulo GP

MANILA: At the 2022 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, George Russell won for the first time in impressive fashion. Mercedes also finished first and second for the season, with Lewis Hamilton coming in second to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

Russell took the lead from Hamilton at the start thanks to the Mercedes team's Sprint Race position and Carlos Sainz's five-place grid penalty. The Safety Car was quickly brought out after a collision involving the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that sent both cars out at Turn 8.

The 2022 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix resumed on Lap 7, as the championship-leading Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided at Turn 2. Lando Norris of McLaren then sent Charles Leclerc into the Turn 7 barriers. Verstappen and Norris each received a five-second penalty for their collisions, but none of the four vehicles retired.

The seven-time champion Hamilton was running second behind Russell until a stoppage for Norris on Lap 52 brought out a VSC-turned Safety Car. Hamilton bounced back quickly from his collision with Verstappen.

Russell held onto his lead over Hamilton on the Lap 60 restart despite being under a ton of pressure, and he took his maiden victory by a margin of 1.5 seconds over the seven-time champion.

Red Bull's Perez, who was on medium compounds, defended his podium position for a lot of laps following the Safety Car restart, making Carlos Sainz fight hard for the final podium spot. When it came to the championship, Charles Leclerc begged his team to trade places with P2 but was advised to be content with fourth.

In addition to costing him a podium finish in the 2022 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Perez's final stint on medium tires dropped him to seventh place and the team let Verstappen drive ahead in sixth place. Despite this, Verstappen was unable to overtake Alpine's Fernando Alonso, who finished in fifth place, and he also refused to give the spot back to his teammate.

Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who was warned not to challenge teammate Alonso during the final Safety Car restart, finished eighth after passing Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, who placed ninth. By the checkered flag, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin had passed his medium-shod teammate Sebastian Vettel to finish in the top 10.

Both drivers were promoted as Pierre Gasly received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane and finished 14th for AlphaTauri. Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu finished 12th for Alfa Romeo ahead of Haas' Mick Schumacher.

Next up was Williams, with Alex Albon taking the lead over Nicholas Latifi. Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri began from the pit lane and finished the 2022 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in seventeenth place.

As George Russell celebrated his first Grand Prix victory with a skillful drive, he was unable to contain his tears.

George Russell wins on the circuit where he made his first race weekend appearance when he drove for Force India in 2017, becoming the 113th different winner in F1 and the 20th British winner.

It stops his streak of four races without a podium and puts him 25 points ahead of his illustrious teammate Lewis Hamilton, who finished second for the third straight race.

Mercedes secured the first row at Interlagos and used it to score their first one-two finish in more than two years; the previous instance was at Imola 2020.

The Silver Arrows achieved their 125th Formula 1 victory with this result, which was also their first of 2022 and their first since Saudi Arabia last year.

They narrowed the distance to Ferrari in the race for second in the constructors' title to 19 points, but with just one race remaining, it may be too late to catch the Italian team.

With Max Verstappen the team's highest finisher in sixth place, Red Bull had their most unsuccessful weekend since the year's first Grand Prix.

Due to tire issues and a five-second time penalty for clashing with Hamilton, the defending world champion finished last at Interlagos, his worst performance since joining Red Bull in 2016.

The team urged him to shift over to help Perez regain second place in the drivers' standings after passing Perez for sixth, but he declined.

The Mexican driver lost ground due to the Safety Car on Sunday, falling from third to seventh in the span of nine laps, and Perez was baffled as to why he was moving so slowly. Verstappen was asked by the team to switch positions with him, and he was disappointed because it cost him championship points in his battle with Leclerc for P2.

This means that he will not be two points ahead of Leclerc going into the F1 2022 season's final race.

Carlos Sainz put on one of Ferrari's smoothest and most effective performances of the season, finishing third in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after placing second in the Sprint.

The fact that he began seventh due to a five-place grid penalty for an internal combustion engine change made it even more amazing.

With P3, he earned his tenth podium of the year. It was also the first time he had ever claimed his trophy on the Interlagos podium during the official ceremony. In 2019, when he earned his maiden F1 podium after being promoted to the third step during the race, he had missed it.

"What an amazing feeling," said Mercedes' race winner George Russell. "Just a huge thank you to the whole team for making this possible. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this season.

"This race, a really tough race. I felt in control, Lewis was super-fast and 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 (I'm) so happy to come away with the victory."

The final race of the 2022 F1 season is scheduled for Abu Dhabi the following weekend, November 18–20. Despite Mercedes' victory in Brazil, the millions of sports enthusiasts watching are eager to find out who will complete the year with the final word.

Photos from Formula 1

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