Russell, Hamilton Launch Mercedes Back to F1 Winning Ways: Takeaways in Brazil

712 days. 

That’s how long it’s been since Mercedes recorded a 1-2 finish, dating back to Imola 2020 with Lewis Hamilton (P1) and Valtteri Bottas (P2). Two years later, the ’22 campaign had not gone how the Silver Arrows expected after their eighth constructors’ title last season. Through 20 races, the duo of Hamilton and George Russell had failed to snag a win despite a slew of podium finishes after a rough start to the season. 

That is until Brazil. 

Russell, who joined the Silver Arrows from Williams, recorded his maiden F1 grand prix victory after a chaotic race filled with safety cars and collisions. This came on the heels of the young Brit winning Saturday’s sprint race, placing him on pole for the São Paulo Grand Prix. 

“I need some tissues. I am crying,” Russell said. 

But in order to secure the victory, he had to fight Hamilton (who ultimately finished second) and hold off the surging Ferrari’s (Carlos Sainz took third). Charles Leclerc, who ended up in the barriers during the early portion of Sunday’s grand prix, fought his way back to fourth, and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who started near the back of the grid, rounded out the top five. 

The 1-2 finish of Russell and Hamilton also marked the first British 1-2 in 12 years, dating back to Canada 2010 when Hamilton was at McLaren with Jenson Button. This finish places Mercedes just 19 points behind Ferrari in the battle for P2 in the constructors’ standings. 

“What an amazing feeling. A huge thank you to the whole team for making this possible. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this season, this race,” Russell said after shedding tears. “I felt in control. Lewis was super-fast and when I saw the safety car, I thought, ‘This is going to be a really difficult end.’ He put me under so much pressure, but I’m so happy to come away with the victory.”

The Mercedes rising star celebrating on the Brazil podium.

IMAGO / PanoramiC

Here are three takeaways from Interlagos, where two “alpha drivers” emerged, team orders reared their heads and battles are brewing heading into the season finale.

Mercedes’ ‘Alpha Drivers’

For a majority of the 2022 campaign, it looked like the Silver Arrows were going to go winless for the first time in more than a decade. 

The cars were routinely outpaced by Red Bull and Ferrari as the rivals surged in the championship fight. Russell had stayed in the mix, routinely finishing in the top five up until a DNF at Silverstone. The following race in Austria saw Mercedes take home a total of 33 points, the highest of the season at the time. 

The team continued to bring in solid points, recording 33 and 34 in France and Hungary as the duo shared the podium twice before the summer break. In Belgium, though, only Russell brought home points after a DNF for Hamilton. Mercedes continued to claw its way back, showing win potential at the Dutch Grand Prix before a strategy gamble backfired on Hamilton, and its tire strategy saw the seven-time world champion fall away from Max Verstappen in Mexico. 

At the time, team principal Toto Wolff felt Mexico City was Mercedes’ best shot at winning a race this season, but a perfect storm brewed for the Silver Arrows in Brazil. Russell had to overtake reigning double champion Verstappen for the Saturday win, and thanks to a grid penalty for Sainz, seven-time world champion Hamilton started second. But tire degradation appeared to go in the Silver Arrows’ favor, as the softs did better than Verstappen’s mediums.

The two flew off the start, and Russell remained unchallenged up until the late safety car triggered by Lando Norris. And although the Mercedes duo were told to race instead of team orders being used to secure a 1-2, Russell held off Hamilton, who may have been wondering what could’ve been considering he collided with Verstappen early in Brazil.

“All I thought in that moment... was I’d have to retire, because I felt something; the rear wasn’t feeling the same after that and for me it was like, ‘I’m going to lose the team a one-two’, and that’s all I could think of,” Hamilton said, per formula1.com. “Driving over the grass and onto the track, all I could think of was: ‘How can I get back to giving the team that incredible result?’ For me, it’s not how you fall but how you get back up. I’m proud and huge congrats to George.”

Regardless, Hamilton called the result a “dream,” adding how this finish boosts Mercedes’ 2023 hopes to return to the title fight. Wolff was not in attendance, working remotely instead, but the two drivers were able to FaceTime him before the podium celebration. 

In the eyes of the team boss, the pair were “alpha drivers.”

But an interesting twist to Mercedes’ fairytale soon emerged as Wolff revealed there was a water leak in Russell’s car—and the team decided not to tell the young rising star. 

They were concerned he would not be able to finish the race, coming several laps short, but Wolff said, per motorsport.com, the team “all agreed we’re going to let him drive to the end even without water, on whatever was there to cool it, and just try to finish the race.”

The evergreen question that has continued to arise during the latter half of the season is whether Mercedes is back—and it seems they are, or at least on the right track to being back in 2023. Andrew Shovlin, one of Mercedes’s race engineers, revealed to Sky Sports that the team hasn’t made changes to the car, saying, “It is literally the exact same car” they had in Mexico.

“The focus was always the learning and understanding the problems, trying to develop tools to be able to capture them,” Shovlin said. “It showed that we had a development path that we could take that would make us quicker. The result today is the product of all the hard work.”

Mercedes is potentially ahead of where they expected to be with car performance, Shovlin said about preparing to be a championship contender for 2023. Ultimately, time will tell, but for now, it’s hats off for Mr. Sunday, who paid tribute to those who helped him reach this moment during his post-race interview.

Now, how will he celebrate his first F1 grand prix win? He and Sainz happen to be on the same flight this evening to Abu Dhabi, and the Spaniard said during the press conference that drinks would be on him.

Russell: “I think they’re free on the plane, aren’t they?”

Sainz: “That’s why they’re on me.” 

Battle for Second in Both Standings

Although the team and driver title have both been clinched by Red Bull and Verstappen, it does not mean there aren’t more battles brewing as Formula One heads into the season finale in Abu Dhabi. 

Ferrari and Mercedes are only separated by 19 points going into the final round, and while it’s one of the largest storylines going into next weekend, second place in the drivers’ standings took a spicy twist in Brazil. 

Given this was a sprint weekend, Sergio Pérez had a six-point lead on Leclerc going into Sunday’s grand prix. The Ferrari driver’s qualifying strategy left him starting the sprint in 10th, and while he gained some positions, Leclerc started race day from fifth, right behind the Red Bull, after his teammate’s penalty. 

On the Prancing Horse’s side, both drivers had to make a comeback. Sainz had to overcome the grid penalty, a tear off causing his brakes to catch on fire and doing a three-stop strategy. He labeled it a “smooth race” that gave him confidence for next year’s campaign after a rocky 2022 season. 

But as Sainz had a foothold in third place in the final stages, Leclerc voiced a request over the team radio—swapping places for the sake of the championship standings. The two Ferraris had passed Pérez, who appeared to be struggling on the mediums. 

Leclerc pointed out how he doesn’t “normally ask these type of things;” however, Ferrari had this discussion prior to the race starting. He added, per formula1.com, “For some reason we changed our mind on that—I don’t know yet, the reason.”

It was said over the team radio during the broadcast that the move would be “too risky,” given Alonso on their tail and Verstappen surging through the field. Team principal Mattia Binotto echoed a similar sentiment during his post-race press conference, adding that Sainz was under investigation at the time for a potential safety car infringement. He was eventually cleared, but without knowing the outcome at the time, Ferrari made the call to do what was best for the constructors’ standings (if there was a penalty, Sainz could have lost more than one place). 

Although team orders were not enacted, Leclerc managed to put on an eye-catching race of his own. The 25-year-old collided with Lando Norris at the restart (after the first early safety car period that started when Daniel Ricciardo hit Kevin Magnussen), which led to Norris later being dealt a five-second penalty. But the collision sent the Ferrari into the barriers, forcing Leclerc to pit for a new front wing and tires. He rejoined in last but navigated his way to a fourth place finish.  

The prospect of team orders, though, backfired on Pérez. 

Verstappen was allowed to overtake him, but the move came with a condition—if unsuccessful, Pérez was to be given his spot back because of points. Over the radio, the Dutchman was told on the final lap that if he did not pass Alonso, who was in fifth, by the exit of Turn 12, the Red Bulls would swap places. 

According to the radio transcription shared by RaceFans.net, Verstappen was told three additional times to “let Check through,” only for the Dutchman to refuse. When asked about it over the radio, Verstappen responded, “I told you already last time guys, don’t ask that again to me, okay. Are we clear about that? I gave my reasons and I stand by it.” 

Team principal Christian Horner could be heard apologizing to Pérez over the team radio, to which the Mexican driver responded, “It shows who he really is.” 

Horner later said to Sky, “The drivers have discussed it, they’ve shaken hands and we’re absolutely focused on that next race.” He pointed out in post-race interviews how Red Bull has not achieved a one-two in the championship before, and “Max has given his commitment as well that we’ll be doing the best in Abu Dhabi to achieve that. It is a straight fight between Checo and Charles, and if Max can help in any way, he will do.”

During post-race interviews, Verstappen didn’t expand on what was discussed but stated he had a justifiable reason for ignoring team orders. 

“I have my reasons for that," the Dutchman said. “We just discussed that, and I think it was better that we finally sat together and spoke about it, and just moved forward from here.

“For sure, if we go to Abu Dhabi and he needs the points, because they're tied, it's not the end of the world, it's all about who finishes ahead anyway. If he needs the help, I'll be there. But it's good that we talked about it now and basically cleared everything that was there why I didn't do it.”

The move, though, cost Pérez critical points. He and Leclerc are tied going into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

A Chaotic Storm for Alpine and McLaren 

For a vast majority of the season, Alpine and McLaren have been duking it out for fourth place in the constructors’ standings, with the French team finding double digit points more often than the Woking-based crew. 

Disaster struck for McLaren when Norris had to skip media duties on Thursday for suspected food poisoning, and the young Brit continued to struggle throughout the weekend. He managed to grab P4 in qualifying, but told Sky F1 afterwards, “I feel a bit sick, I'll try not to go in your direction.” 

Come Sunday, he had a P6 start, but after the contact with Leclerc, Norris was off pace. He added in the post-race recap, “I'd like to believe there was a little bit of damage because we were too slow today.” Somehow, the 23-year-old’s birthday got worse as his car came to a stop late in the race, something “the team will investigate.” 

McLaren walked away from Brazil with zero points after a double DNF, and now, Ricciardo faces a three-place grid penalty in Abu Dhabi after his collision with Magnussen. Alpine, though, managed to put together a full race with a double points finish despite a rocky Saturday. 

Alonso and Esteban Ocon made headlines after the sprint race because of their collisions. They both blamed each other (and both cars were damaged), resulting in the Alpines starting near the back of the grid on Sunday. The stewards investigated and found Alonso at fault, handing him a penalty that resulted in a P17 start Sunday.

The Spaniard didn’t feel the two of them needed to smooth things over, telling the media on Saturday, “No, not really. I don't need. It's one more race then it's over, finally.” He continued, pointing out other incidents between the teammate as well as other incidences between other drivers and Ocon. 

Alonso is headed to Aston Martin in 2023. 

Team boss Otmar Szafnauer expressed his disappointment in the drivers, saying Saturday, “We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the constructors’ championship; an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards. Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando must do a better job to compliment the fantastic efforts of everyone in the team by avoiding on-track incidents and compromising the entire team’s performance.”

“Today, both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the championship.”

And to make matters worse for Ocon, his car went up in flames when he parked it after the sprint race. He said Saturday, “I left the car, I did a couple of steps, I went up to the scale and then I saw a car on fire. I thought it was the Williams, but no, it was mine.”

The team did have to change his power unit, but he did not face a penalty because they used one in his pool. The Alpine drivers fought their way through Sunday’s grid, but the French team had to deal direct team orders after the late safety car. 

Alonso had the fresher soft tires and was behind Ocon on the restart. The Enstone-based team told the French driver not to race his teammate, which he initially resisted and argued against by emphasizing the importance of overtaking Sebastian Vettel. Not thrilled with the idea of letting Alonso through, Ocon said, “Let me race.”

The Frenchman was told once again not to be “fighting Fernando” and ultimately let Alonso past. The pair secured a double points finish with Ocon coming in eighth, placing Alpine comfortably ahead of McLaren going into the season finale.