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George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes celebrates its resurrection in Interlagos and lands a one-two.
The pedestal
- 1. George Russell (GBR, Mercedes)
- 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR, Mercedes)
- 3. Carlos Sainz (ESP, Ferrari)
In the 21st and penultimate race of the season, the time had finally come again: The once dominant Mercedes racing team can look forward to a GP victory – and thanks to George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, a double success as in earlier times.
17 Mercedes podiums
For 24-year-old Russell, who has been driving for Mercedes since this year (in 2020 he stood in for Hamilton, who was suffering from Corona), it is the first GP victory of his career after he had already finished on the podium seven times this year. He had already won the sprint race on Saturday and thus claimed pole position. Badly battered in 2022, Hamilton missed his first win of the season by 1.529 seconds but still clinched his 9th podium.
Behind him, Carlos Sainz took third place for Ferrari, ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. The Red Bull team had to settle for places 6 (Max Verstappen) and 7 (Sergio Perez). Valtteri Bottas scored two valuable points for the constructors’ championship for the Alfa team in 9th place. Zhou Guanyu in the other Alfa Romeo was 13th.
Failed attempts to overtake
The race was characterized by a number of safety car phases. Immediately after the start, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen caused a yellow flag through contact. After the release, Verstappen and Hamilton as well as Lando Norris and Leclerc touched each other when trying to overtake. Verstappen then had to pit.
20 laps before the end, Norris rolled out with an engine defect – again there was a virtual safety phase. After that, the leading Mercedes were no longer in danger, while Perez lost rank after rank due to declining tires and was finally pushed out by Fernando Alonso (Alpine/5th).
This is how it goes
Perez had to let Leclerc catch up in the World Cup standings. The decision for second place will be made at the Dernière in Abu Dhabi next weekend.