The Autodromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a circuit with many faces. This is mainly due to its location between the large lakes near São Paulo, which means that the weather goes in all directions. This year too, the formula 1 teams had to constantly switch gears and adapt to the circumstances. That produces some nice surprises. Because with a rainy qualifying on Friday – qualifying for the starting grid of the sprint race on Saturday – it was suddenly the Dane Kevin Magnussen of team Haas (Haas, VF-22) who set the fastest time in Q3. He could hardly believe it when his engineer told him he had pole position for Saturday. There could not be a greater contrast with his teammate: Mick Schumacher would start in P20. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing, RB18) took P2 and George Russell (Mercedes, W13) P3.

Tear in Red Bull Racing's tactics?

Saturday the weather was nice, dry, not too hot. A beautiful day for a sprint race over 24 laps. The previous two sprint races were won by Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing, RB18) and the format is even on the agenda six times for the 2023 season.
Kevin Magnussen had a great start and managed to keep the lead. Verstappen and Nicholas Latifi (Williams, FW-44) were the only ones on the medium tyre. The rest had opted for the red, softest band. Verstappen had a hard time getting the medium tires to work. So he immediately had George Russell in his mirrors. Was this the first crack in Red Bull Racing's otherwise perfect strategy? Magnussen had lost the lead to Verstappen after three laps and would eventually finish in P8 with 1 point for the team.

Teammates Alpine and Aston Martin fighting each other

More towards the middle there was a hard fight for a good starting place in the grand prix on Sunday. The Alpine and Aston Martin teammates left each other little room. Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon (Alpine, A522) touched, forcing Alonso to go in for a new front wing. While Ocon's formula 1 car had suffered significant damage to an airpod. Shortly after the race, his car even caught fire!

Lance Stroll wanted to prevent teammate Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin, AMR22) from overtaking him and pushed the German onto the grass. Fortunately, Vettel was able to continue, but immediately knew that he apparently had nothing to expect from his teammate.
At the front, Verstappen had to defend his lead against Russell's dominant Mercedes W13. The young Briton needed three attempts to finally overtake Verstappen. His medium tires ran out much faster than hoped and Max was therefore unable to fight for the victory. After Russell, he also had to leave Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, F-75) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, W13). The two-time world champion finished in P4, with behind him Sergio Pérez (Red Bull Racing, RB18), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, F1-75), Lando Norris (McLaren, MCL36), Kevin Magnussen (Haas, VF-22), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin, AMR22) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri, AT03) on P10.

Due to a five-place grid penalty for Carlos Sainz (engine change), Lewis Hamilton would start alongside Russell on the front row and Red Bull Racing occupied the second row on Sunday.

Brazilian Grand Prix

On Sunday the teams had to deal with very high temperatures. A challenge for the tires and for the drivers. George Russell (Mercedes, W13) had a great start and was ahead of both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The middle of the field was crowded in the first lap and that led to an unnecessary mistake by Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren, MCL36). He tapped Kevin Magnussen from behind. De Haas (VF-22), who had started from pole position on Saturday, spun and took Ricciardo with him in his turn. Both cars were out of the race and the first safety car was a fact.

At the restart, Max Verstappen immediately attacked Lewis Hamilton quite aggressively in the fight for P2. Hamilton gave Verstappen no room in turn 1, so that the formula 1 cars touched each other. The front wing of the Red Bull was gone and Verstappen immediately saw three cars pass by. Hamilton had also run off the track, but apparently had no damage. He reconnected to P6. Verstappen had to go in for a new front wing and heard not much later that the race management held him responsible for the incident. It earned him a time penalty of 5 seconds, to be redeemed at the next pit stop.

Leclerc and Verstappen build up the race from the rear

Not much later, Lando Norris (McLaren, MCL36) crashed into Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. The Monegasque slid down the track and came to rest in the tire stacks. Everyone, including Leclerc, thought the race was over. But the Ferrari engine kept running and so Leclerc was able to return to the pit lane for a new front wing and continue his race close behind Verstappen in the rear. Norris also got 5 seconds on his pants.

At the front, George Russell easily pulled away from Sergio Pérez in P2. Behind them, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, F1-75) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, W13) chased Pérez again. The Red Bull clearly didn't have the speed we've seen all season. Pérez is P2 in the championship and had to do everything he could to take points in the ultimate attempt to stay ahead of Leclerc. But Hamilton eventually overtook him and after his pit stop, the Mexican also had to let Carlos Sainz ahead.

Second safety car brings extra tension to the race

When the Formula 1 car of Lando Norris (McLaren, MCL36) stalled on lap 52, his team was done in Brazil. Norris parked his car along the circuit and that was the signal for the safety car to come onto the tarmac. Carlos Sainz immediately dived in for a set of new tires and rejoined in P4. Many drivers made a pit stop, sometimes for the third time, such as Leclerc and Verstappen. The Monegask did better than the Dutchman, but both drove in the top 10 in any case.

Russell made another strong restart and easily held off Hamilton by about 1.5 seconds. Would Lewis, who also hasn't won a race this season, hold off his young team-mate from his maiden GP win?

Behind the Mercedes, Pérez was overtaken by Sainz and then dropped even further when he had to let Leclerc and Fernando Alonso (Alpine, A522) past. Alonso and Ocon drove a strong race in Brazil. What a wonderful on-board radio between Ocon and his engineer in which the Frenchman had to promise not to fight with teammate Alonso!

Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) is not loved

With Leclerc on P4, Pérez on P6 and Verstappen now on P7, an interesting discussion ensued in both teams. Leclerc would have liked Sainz to get ahead of him so that he could score even more points than Pérez. But Sainz, who already had a podium finish, did not respond. At Red Bull, Pérez (P6) had to let Verstappen (P7) ahead. The Dutchman would try to catch up with Alonso. If that didn't work, he had to return the spot to Pérez. And all this just a few laps before the finish. Alonso, however, remained out of reach of Verstappen, so the request came to give Sergio back his place. With that, Pérez would have just one point more than Leclerc in the championship. But… Max didn't respond. In fact, he used this moment to get back at Pérez for something that happened earlier this season. Possibly Pérez's crash with Leclerc in qualifying for the Monaco GP. Verstappen was therefore unable to complete his flying lap and had to start in P4. Pole position went to the Monegask and Pérez would eventually win the Monaco GP. Anyway, Verstappen is not making any friends here…

George Russell celebrates his first Formula 1 GP victory

In the lead, George Russell was no longer attacked by Hamilton and finished his race unthreatened. The fireworks and cheers of the crowd were special to him. After two years of struggling with team Williams, Russell concludes his first season with Mercedes with a stunning victory in Brazil. The first of many. The first victory of the 2022 season was also finally achieved for team Mercedes. Hamilton finished second and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) joined the podium in third.

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With Racing Art you bring the racing experience into your home. Racing-Art.nl has a nice collection of artworks. model cars and showcases to show off your scale model, such as the Triple 9 showcase. You will of course also find the RB18 model car from Max Verstappen with the number 1 on the car.