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Formula 1
São Paulo GP
F1 Brazilian GP Live Commentary and Updates - race day
Updates from Formula 1's Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos
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F1’s sprint race format returns at the penultimate round of the 2022 season, which has shaken up the Brazilian GP at Interlagos.
George Russell will start from top spot for Mercedes after winning the sprint race on Saturday, having seen a shock pole position for Kevin Magnussen in a wet qualifying on Friday.
Carlos Sainz finished the sprint race second but drops to seventh due to a Ferrari engine change, meaning it is a Mercedes front-row lockout with Lewis Hamilton in second ahead of Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
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Albon and Latifi, the lapped cars, have been allowed to unlap themselves to get the pack in order for the restart.
Mind you, with Ocon directly in front of Alonso for this restart, who knows how that'll go given their clashes yesterday.
A double DNF for McLaren is a hammer blow to its hopes on fighting Alpine in the constructors with both Ocon and Alonso in the points at present.
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Russell and Hamilton will hence be right together on this restart, although it's obviously not ideal for Russell at all. "You are racing [with Hamilton], just be respectful," Russell is told.
Norris has stopped at a point on the track where there isn't a clear space to push his stricken McLaren behind the barriers, which is why race direction has gone from virtual to proper safety car. It looks to be the right call.
Safety car
Three track marshals are at the scene but cannot move the car, so a full safety car has been called now.
Pit stop
Now here's interesting - Sainz is pitting for the soft tyre, and although he'll concede third to Perez, he'll have a good opportunity to get back ahead.
Mechanical problem
Norris gets out of his McLaren, that's his race run, potentially due to damage he was carrying from his earlier clash with Leclerc.
Safety car
Virtual Safety Car deployed!
Ah, Norris has come to a halt at the side of the track. He's lost power.
Stopwatch
Russell then does a 1m13.996s on his first lap with the softs, as the leader seeks to restore his buffer over the rest of the field.
Leclerc dives up the inside at Turn 1 to take seventh place off Vettel.
Stopwatch
Hamilton's hacked almost two seconds out of Sainz once up to speed, setting a 1m14.103s. That's quite quick.
Pit stop
Verstappen also pits for the final time in this race, at least on schedule, and comes out on softs in 11th ahead of Norris.
Russell comes in for his second stop, and also collects the soft tyre. He returns to the track ahead of Sainz, and he retains the lead.
Pit stop
Hamilton responds to the Perez stop and takes the soft tyre for the final 22 laps. "My tyres are good!" Hamilton contends, but Mercedes wanted to cover off Perez - which it has done.
Leclerc is back into the points with a DRS-aided move on Gasly into Turn 1.
Perez stops at the end of lap 47, and will take another set of mediums. Swift stop, as usual, from Red Bull.
Pit stop
Bottas, Vettel and Norris pit together - seeing the Alfa Romeo driver come out in 10th, the Aston Martin in 11th and the McLaren in 16th.
Pit stop
Bottas, Vettel and Norris all pit for the second time. Bottas remains ahead of Vettel, and takes the soft tyre - as Vettel goes for the medium.
Sainz was perceptive enough earlier to ask if his race was with Perez - and received the affirmative. He's just 11s adrift as Perez doesn't have much pace in reserve.
Pit stop
Well, Alonso has his chance, as Leclerc pits for the third time today and drops to 14th place.
This time, Hamilton gets the run out of Juncao and Perez has little defence at the start of lap 45. The Brazilian fans are delighted - and Hamilton's up to second once more.
Alonso gets by Schumacher to move into 11th place, but could points be a stretch with Leclerc, Norris and Verstappen ahead?
Hamilton is on DRS now, but doesn't quite have the purchase to attack Perez into Turn 1. The Mexican also holds into Turn 4, but Hamilton looks like he just has to be patient...
After a quick moan about being stuck behind Norris, Leclerc gets the move done around the outside at Turn 1 to take eighth place.
"We're thinking about the soft for the final stint," Russell is told by Riccardo Musconi - and Russell seems to be fine with that. Hamilton's very close to Perez now, as the gap has been gobbled up quite swiftly.
Verstappen is back in the points, as he dives by Schumacher into Turn 1 to take 10th place. He's now five seconds off Leclerc who is tucked up behind Norris.
Sainz is busy thinking about trying to undercut Perez and Hamilton now, and is told that he needs to keep up the pace to get the advantage.
Norris vs Leclerc II is coming up, with the Ferrari driver closing in on the McLaren driver in a fight for eighth place.
Stopwatch
It's a 1m14.754s for Sainz, which is quite a mighty lap. There's some pace in that Ferrari, but the strategy's been a bit compromised by that earlier stop produced by a tear-off strip.
Alonso isn't messing around after that slow stop and makes quick moves on Albon and then Tsunoda to move up to 13th place.
Mediums for Sainz then, who returns to the circuit just ahead of Bottas. Hamilton is now going to go after Perez, who is 4.6s ahead.
Pit stop
Alonso has a miserably slow stop, which I'm sure will definitely help his mood. He had to wait for Gasly too - as Sainz comes in from third place.
Hamilton's continuing to inch in on Sainz, and sits 2.2s behind now. If he can make the one-stop work, it'll be a very good effort, as Russell is just making sure his gap over Perez is solid.
Norris (10th), Leclerc (12th) and Verstappen (15th) are going to keep the backmarker watchers busy. If that's your thing.
Verstappen makes light work of Tsunoda to take 15th, while further up the road Leclerc gets by Schumacher to take 12th place.
The latest from the FIA: "The pitlane incident is related to an Alfa Romeo team member being in a potentially dangerous position during the pitstop of Schumacher."
Stroll charges by Tsunoda for 14th, just as Verstappen arrives right behind the pair looking to impose himself on the situation.
Striking distance in three laps, reckons the F1 battle forecast. Hamilton's shaved another two seconds off Sainz over the past two laps, and sits 3.8s behind as of the start of lap 34.
By: autosport.com
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