George Russell celebrated his first Formula One victory after triumphing at the Brazilian Grand Prix, holding off Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton who had earlier collided with world champion Max Verstappen.
Russell produced a brilliant start from pole at Interlagos before surviving a late safety car as Mercedes finally got off the mark at the penultimate round of the season. The 24-year-old follows in the footsteps of Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard to become only the fourth British winner of a grand prix this century.
Russell’s supreme performance, 24 hours after he triumphed in Saturday’s sprint race, followed another altercation between Hamilton and Verstappen in the early stages as they disputed second place. ‘He left me no space,’ complained Verstappen, who pulled into the pits for repairs to the front wing of his Red Bull.
Unsurprisingly, Hamilton had a different version of events. ‘That was no racing incident, mate,’ he said. The stewards investigated the accident, and sided with Hamilton. Verstappen, handed a five-second penalty, continued to grumble on the radio following the stewards’ verdict.
‘Where did they expect me to go?” he asked. ‘He (Hamilton) just closed the door on me, but it doesn’t matter.’
Hamilton recovered from the collision to take second – unable to challenge team-mate Russell in an 11-lap dash to the flag – while Verstappen finished sixth.
Carlos Sainz took third for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc.Russell now leads Hamilton by 23 points in the standings ahead of next week’s concluding race in Abu Dhabi. ‘What an amazing feeling,’ said the emotional Englishman.
‘A huge thank you to the whole team for making it possible. It has been an emotional rollercoaster this season.
‘Lewis was super fast and when I saw the safety car come out, I thought, “This is going to be a really difficult end”. But I am really happy to take the victory. I am speechless.’
MORE : ‘After all I’ve done for him’ – Sergio Perez hits out at Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen
MORE : Can Lewis Hamilton secure his first win for the season in Sao Paolo?
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