George Russell lives F1 dream to win debut race: 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix report

Only Russell looked comfortable, extending his lead over Perez gradually while Carlos Sainz – having started on mediums compared to softs for the top two – appeared to be a threat. But then Sainz suffered the misfortune of a visor tear-off becoming stuck in his right rear brake duct and an early first stop for softs was required, hurting his chances.

After Perez, Russell and then Hamilton stopped for mediums, the latter had offset his tyres by six laps over Perez and started showing ominous pace, and on Lap 45 he went round the outside of the Mexican to take second. By then Sainz had made a second stop for another set of mediums and was running quickly, and the final set of pit stops had a major bearing on the outcome of the race.

Perez was struggling and stopped earliest, taking on mediums on Lap 47 to ensure he’d make it to the end. Hamilton was called in for a set of softs – despite protesting that his tyres were fine – and comfortably covered off any undercut threat, leaving Russell to do the same and emerge just ahead of Sainz who still had to stop again.

That stop became less penalising when Norris’s tough weekend was capped off when he lost power and stopped exiting Turn 10, leading to a long virtual safety car that became a full safety sar when the McLaren couldn’t be moved.

And then things got really interesting.

Sainz made his final stop for softs and was fourth on the road behind a Mercedes one-two and Perez, with Russell asking for the rules of engagement against his team-mate.

“So you are racing, just be respectful,” came the reply.

Others weren’t so courteous, as Ocon – eighth in the queue behind Bottas in fifth, Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel –  was told not to fight Alonso. The Spaniard was directly behind on new softs thanks to his strategy, but Ocon declined and said he needed to overtake Vettel first.

With 12 laps to go on the restart, Mercedes nailed it. Russell and Hamilton pulled away without drama while Perez slipped backwards. Like Saturday, the Red Bull was no good on the mediums, and Sainz was quickly through, soon followed by Leclerc who had instantly dispatched Bottas.

The same phrase can be used for Ocon’s treatment of Vettel, and to his credit the Frenchman then didn’t make life too hard for Alonso as the Spaniard followed him through, clearing Bottas and set off after the top five.

With six laps to go Alonso attacked Perez at Turn 1 and received a robust defence, but used DRS to Turn 4 to take fifth place. That left Perez with Verstappen as his apparent rear-gunner as he looks to secure second in the drivers’ championship, after a brilliant outbraking move on both Ocon and Bottas into Turn 1 promoted his team-mate to seventh.

But Verstappen was not in the mood to help Perez’s cause. Having overtaken him into Turn 1 under the proviso he would return the position if no further progress was made, Verstappen caught Alonso but wasn’t close enough to pass. Despite a reminder on the final lap, the Dutchman duly crossed the line sixth, and then lambasted his team after being asked why he ignored the team order.

“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.”

Verstappen wouldn’t elaborate on his reasons post-race, while Perez was left “disappointed, especially after all I’ve done” but similarly kept conversations that threatened to overshadow a landmark victory behind closed doors.

Leclerc had also asked Ferrari to move Sainz aside to aid his cause in the fight against Perez, but Alonso’s close proximity led to Ferrari deeming it too risky.

“Obviously we had a discussion with the team before the race otherwise I don’t ask for this type of thing,” Leclerc said. “But the decision has changed for some reason and it’s like this. I will speak with the team to understand why it has changed.”

That meant Sainz crossed the line third behind debut winner Russell and a remarkable Mercedes one-two that seemed unthinkable mid-season.

“So many emotions, I think I’ve dreamt of this moment, for sure, many, many times,” a tearful Russell said. “And you never really know how it’s going to pan out and I think the race was well managed, everything was under control.

“I knew how quick Lewis was and when that safety car came out, I thought ‘God this is going to be very, very tricky now’. But I put together a really strong string of laps. Very little mistakes and you know the pressure Lewis put me under was immense.

“But I’m so proud of the whole team. The progress we’ve made since the start of the year is just unbelievable. And what a boost it’s going to give us going into next season.”

Somehow, in the space of an afternoon in Interlagos, Red Bull’s intra-team dramas and Mercedes’ resurgence reignited a feeling that next season can’t come soon enough.