F1 race results: George Russell wins Brazilian GP sprint
George Russell won a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix sprint at Interlagos on Saturday for Mercedes, giving him pole position for Sunday’s main event.
Russell prevailed in an epic battle for victory with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had hit the front at the start of lap three after passing Kevin Magnussen, who started on a shock pole position for Haas.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished second, after clashing with Verstappen, who dropped back to fourth. Magnussen fell down the order to finish eighth.
2022 Brazilian Grand Prix sprint results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  George Russell |
Mercedes | 24 | 30'11.307 | ||
| 2 |  Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari | 24 | 30'15.302 | 3.995 | |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 24 | 30'15.799 | 0.497 | |
| 4 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 24 | 30'21.801 | 6.002 | |
| 5 |  Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 24 | 30'23.162 | 1.361 | |
| 6 |  Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 24 | 30'24.440 | 1.278 | |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 24 | 30'36.931 | 12.491 | |
| 8 |  Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 24 | 30'40.075 | 3.144 | |
| 9 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin | 24 | 30'41.525 | 1.450 | |
| 10 |  Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri | 24 | 30'45.477 | 3.952 | |
| 11 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
McLaren | 24 | 30'50.702 | 5.225 | |
| 12 | Mick Schumacher |
Haas | 24 | 30'52.466 | 1.764 | |
| 13 |  Zhou Guanyu |
Alfa Romeo | 24 | 30'53.070 | 0.604 | |
| 14 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 24 | 30'53.645 | 0.575 | |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 24 | 31'00.292 | 6.647 | |
| 16 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 24 | 31'01.613 | 1.321 | |
| 17 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 24 | 31'02.007 | 0.394 | |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 24 | 31'03.063 | 1.056 | |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
Williams | 24 | 31'28.157 | 25.094 | |
 Alex Albon |
Williams | 12 | ||||
| View full results | ||||||
How the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint unfolded
Magnussen held his pole advantage on the run to Turn 1, ahead of Verstappen (who started on the medium tyres, unlike the majority on softs) and Russell. Lando Norris (McLaren) held off Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) for fourth, as the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso almost clashed at Descida do Lago and then touched properly on the start/finish straight.
Magnussen led the opening lap, as Russell attacked Verstappen for second. Sainz passed Norris for fourth at the start of lap two, as Alonso dropped to 10th and then pitted to replace a broken front wing.
Verstappen took the lead from Magnussen at the start of lap three at the Senna-S, as Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) demoted Ocon for sixth. Russell and Sainz passed Magnussen on lap four, while Hamilton passed Norris and Magnussen on successive laps.
Russell kept Verstappen within DRS range, with Sainz also in close attendance. Behind Hamilton, Magnussen lost another spot to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Russell almost grabbed the lead at half distance, drawing alongside on the outside of Turn 1 and then Turn 4 with the benefit of DRS. They repeated it on Lap 13, with Verstappen just hanging on through the uphill Ferradura right-hander.
Russell wrested the lead away with 10 laps to go, finally DRS-ing past before the braking zone for Descida do Lago. As Russell pulled away to win, team-mate Hamilton latched on to the rear of Sainz, who was closing on Verstappen.
Sainz sliced past Verstappen at the Senna-S on Lap 19, hitting the Red Bull at Turn 2 and damaging its front wing endplate. Hamilton also passed the hobbled Verstappen to finish third – and was right on Sainz’s tail at the end.
Perez asked if Verstappen would pull over, to give him the extra points, but to no avail. Leclerc finished sixth, ahead of Norris and Magnussen.
As well as the warring Alpines, the Aston Martins also clashed when Lance Stroll drove Sebastian Vettel off the circuit exiting the Senna-S, for which he received a penalty. Vettel finished ninth, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
The FIA is investigating Hamilton's grid positioning, however, while Sainz will take a five-place grid penalty for a power unit change on Sunday.
2022 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix sprint fastest laps
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell |
Mercedes | 4 | 1'14.233 | 208.969 | ||
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes | 3 | 1'14.317 | 0.084 | 0.084 | 208.732 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 5 | 1'14.507 | 0.274 | 0.190 | 208.200 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari | 2 | 1'14.522 | 0.289 | 0.015 | 208.158 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez |
Red Bull | 5 | 1'14.699 | 0.466 | 0.177 | 207.665 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso |
Alpine | 5 | 1'14.764 | 0.531 | 0.065 | 207.484 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen |
Haas | 2 | 1'15.110 | 0.877 | 0.346 | 206.529 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari | 4 | 1'15.236 | 1.003 | 0.126 | 206.183 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly |
AlphaTauri | 3 | 1'15.290 | 1.057 | 0.054 | 206.035 |
| 10 | Lando Norris |
McLaren | 4 | 1'15.380 | 1.147 | 0.090 | 205.789 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo |
McLaren | 5 | 1'15.385 | 1.152 | 0.005 | 205.775 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin | 4 | 1'15.425 | 1.192 | 0.040 | 205.666 |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel |
Aston Martin | 4 | 1'15.451 | 1.218 | 0.026 | 205.595 |
| 14 | Zhou Guanyu |
Alfa Romeo | 7 | 1'15.765 | 1.532 | 0.314 | 204.743 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher |
Haas | 5 | 1'15.771 | 1.538 | 0.006 | 204.727 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas |
Alfa Romeo | 8 | 1'15.980 | 1.747 | 0.209 | 204.164 |
| 17 | Alex Albon |
Williams | 4 | 1'15.998 | 1.765 | 0.018 | 204.115 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon |
Alpine | 5 | 1'16.097 | 1.864 | 0.099 | 203.850 |
| 19 | Yuki Tsunoda |
AlphaTauri | 4 | 1'16.413 | 2.180 | 0.316 | 203.007 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |
Williams | 4 | 1'16.525 | 2.292 | 0.112 | 202.710 |
| View full results | |||||||
F1 Brazilian GP: Russell overhauls Verstappen to win sprint race
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