George Russell conquistou sua primeira vitória no Grande Prêmio à frente do companheiro de equipe Lewis Hamilton no domingo, quando a Mercedes encerrou sua corrida estéril com uma dobradinha triunfante no Grande Prêmio de São Paulo. O piloto inglês de 24 anos resistiu à pressão do compatriota Hamilton e terminou com 1,529 segundos de vantagem sobre o heptacampeão. “Este é apenas o começo”, disse um exultante Russell depois de vencer em seu 81º Grande Prêmio. Hamilton, vencedor de um recorde de 103 Grandes Prêmios, aumentou a alegria da Mercedes após uma temporada frustrante.
“Parabéns à equipe e obrigado – este é um resultado incrível”, disse ele.
Carlos Sainz terminou em terceiro pela Ferrari, à frente do companheiro de equipe Charles Leclerc, com o bicampeão Fernando Alonso chegando em quinto pela Alpine.
O bicampeão Max Verstappen foi o sexto para a Red Bull depois de parar após uma colisão na sétima volta com Hamilton, pela qual foi penalizado, e avançando pelo campo.
Sergio Perez foi sétimo no segundo Red Bull, à frente de Esteban Ocon, da Alpine, Valtteri Bottas, da Alfa Romeo, e Lance Stroll, da Aston Martin.
“Que sensação incrível”, acrescentou um emocionado Russell depois de sair de seu carro. “Um grande obrigado à equipe que fez isso acontecer. Tem sido uma montanha-russa emocional.”
“Lewis me colocou sob muita pressão.”
Foi a primeira vitória da Mercedes na temporada e veio em uma corrida escaldante e frenética que começou em uma tarde quente, com temperatura da pista de 51 graus Celsius.
A corrida começou em grande estilo. Russell, que havia levado o p[ole for the main race by winning Saturday’s sprint, making a near-perfect start, followed by Hamilton.
Behind them, on lap one, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen collided when the Australian’s McLaren clipped the Dane’s Haas and spun him before hitting him again.
A Safety Car came out. The luckless Magnussen, Friday’s hero after securing his maiden pole aheasd of the sprint, radioed in. “Sorry, guys,” he said. “I’m out. I got a massive push.”
The race resumed on lap seven with another explosion of drama as Russell accelerated clear ahead of two collisions – Verstappen and Hamilton making contact at Turn One, where the Dutchman suffered a damaged front wing, and Leclerc avoiding the wall at Turn Six after clashing with Norris.
Verstappen and Leclerc both pitted. Red Bull replaced Verstappen’s front wing in only 10 seconds before the champion re-joined 17th only to learn that he had a five-second penalty for causing the collision.
– ‘Closed the door’ –
“Where did they expect me to go?” a defiant Verstappen told his team, echoing his battle with Hamilton in 2021. “He just closed the door on me, but it doesn’t matter.”
Norris was also handed a five-second penalty.
Hamilton, having fallen to eighth after his off-circuit recovery, battled back to fourth by lap 16 as the contest settled down.
Sainz was the first of the leaders to stop, switching tires, as Hamilton inherited third. The Spaniard’s right rear billowed with smoke as Ferrari fought to retrieve a tear-off from a brake duct.
By lap 25, Verstappen was 12th before pitting again, serving his five-second penalty as Perez and Russell also came in. This blur of pit lane action left Hamilton leading ahead of Russell and Vettel, who pitted on lap 27.
Hamilton stayed out until lap 30, and re-joined fourth, rising to third when the Spaniard pitted again on lap 37.
Roared on by his ‘home’ fans, Hamilton caught and passed Perez for second on lap 45 before pitting on lap 49. Russell followed him in and retained his lead, but Sainz took second.
Hamilton immediately cut two seconds out of Sainz’s advantage before Norris lost power and idled to a halt and a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed.
Sainz took his chance and pitted for soft tires, leaving the two Mercedes ahead of Perez before a full Safety Car was signalled, reducing Russell’s 11-second cushion.
“So, are we racing?” Russell asked as his team-mate rose to second setting up a potential victory duel between the ‘silver arrows’. “Yes, you are racing. Just be respectful,” came the pit-wall reply.
source – sports.ndtv.com
