F1: Double delight for Mercedes in Sao Paulo Thriller

After a successful Sprint race for Mercedes, both drivers would be starting on the front row of the grid for the Grand Prix with their sights set on victory. Max Verstappen and Red Bull on the other hand were looking for redemption. Sergio Perez continued his battle with Charles Leclerc for second in the championship.

As the lights went out in Sao Paulo, it was George Russell who managed to get the perfect start. All drivers managed to get away cleanly until there was a collision with Daniel Ricciardo and Friday’s pole sitter Kevin Magnussen. This led to their race lasting less than a lap and brought out an early safety car.

Once green flags waved again chaos struck. Rivals Hamilton and Verstappen made contact at turn two. This forced Hamilton onto the grass and damaged the left side of Verstappen’s front wing. The Red Bull driver had to pit, dropping him down to 17^th position while Hamilton escaped major damage.

The drama continued later in the lap, as Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris made contact which forced Leclerc into the wall. This would force the Ferrari driver to pit for a new front wing, but both drivers escaped major damage.

Penalties were given to both Norris and Verstappen, as they would receive a five-second penalty for causing a collision. These penalties would prove to be costly and controversial as Verstappen continued to try and recover a good result.

Due to the penalties and incidents, there was a massive shake-up to the order of the Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel made it up to fourth position in his penultimate race. But he would eventually drop down to 11^th position as he prepares to take his last dance.

Upfront it was still the Mercedes duo at the front, with Russell showing his pace. He was ahead of his teammate by 10 seconds before his pitstop onto the medium tyre compound. The gap would swap back as Hamilton pitted giving Russell the comfortable lead back.

Norris’ race went from bad, to worse as he ground to a halt on lap 52 bringing out a virtual safety car. This would later be changed to a full safety car as marshals struggled to move the car from the side of the track.

Mercedes allowed their two drivers to battle for the race lead. As the extensive safety car period came to an end, Russell was able to show his pace and grew the gap to over a second. Behind the duo, an incredible battle formed between Perez and Leclerc after his great recovery drive to fourth position.

Controversy struck at Red Bull, on the final lap of the race Verstappen was ordered to allow his teammate past. This position change would allow Perez to take a two-point advantage over Leclerc. But on the final lap, Verstappen did not allow his teammate through. But instead finished in front of Perez denying team orders.

As the chequered flag waved in the air George Russell came across the line and became a Grand Prix winner for the first time in his career. Hamilton came home in second which allowed Mercedes to take their first one, two of the season. Carlos Sainz made his way onto the final podium position after a strong drive from seventh position on the grid.

With one more round to go at Abu Dhabi, second position in the championship is still all to play for.

Images from Mercedes AMG