A second new 2022 F1 winner emerged twice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as George Russell added race victory to his sprint success.
On a day where Mercedes returned to their best level with a 1-2, Red Bull ended an unusual weekend with a battle for the team pecking order.
This was also a problem at Ferrari, while elsewhere, McLaren were at war with both cars as they lost more ground to their direct rivals, Alpine.
Here are our driver ratings for the penultimate round of the season after three days of competitive action that produced some rare surprises for this year.
George Russell: We usually reserve top marks for a driver who completes a “grand slam”, but it would be rude to write anything off for Russell – he was in complete control throughout.
With clear strategy calls over the team radio, a perfect breakaway and exemplary Safety Car restarts, this was a thoroughly deserved maiden win which saw him join Carlos Sainz as those to break his duck this season.
A total of 33 points went to the Briton as he also sprinted, with his unwitting qualifying ‘off’ proving to be a huge positive after he wiped out his rivals’ chances of relegating grill it. 10.
Lewis Hamilton: In the week he was made an honorary Brazilian citizen, Hamilton would have liked a fourth Interlagos triumph at a venue that holds many happy memories for him.
But he just couldn’t get past his team-mate and was admirably magnanimous about what the result meant for Russell and Mercedes.
Less, of course, about Max Verstappen, with whom the tense rivalry was revived in 2021. The stewards’ call to penalize the reigning world champion instead of his predecessor seemed more or less correct under the current rules of engagement. 8.
Carlos Sainz: Sainz stronger pace than he has shown on some occasions in the second half of this season and a fully justified podium, whatever his teammate thinks.
Overtaking Sergio Pérez on lap 63 to ensure he moved up from seventh on the grid to finish third, he was just one place away from clearing his engine-related penalty.
It was a three-stop strategy for Sainz and although he felt it hadn’t been ideal, his fresher tires after the safety car restart were a definite help. 8.
Charles Leclerc: His weekend was marred by Ferrari’s strange decision to send him out on intermediate tires at the start of Q3 and he never fully recovered, although his comeback after being in the barrier after colliding with Lando Norris was strong.
However, Leclerc’s pleas over team radio for Sainz to give him third place heading into his championship P2 battle with Sergio Perez were a little desperate and unseemly, perhaps a sign of his general frustration 7.
Fernando Alonso: There were further signs of how Alonso’s relationship with Alpine is fraying when boss Otmar Szafnauer said he and Esteban Ocon had “let the team down” with their sprint fights.
But it was quite the opposite on Sunday as the Spaniard soared from 17th to become among the usual favorites towards the end… “yes baby” indeed over the team radio as he overtake Pérez for fifth. 9.5.
Max Verstappen: Tire degradation was a problem for the world champion all weekend, but not as big as the clash with Hamilton that ruined his race and cost him a five-second penalty.
But after Perez gave up his place to allow a challenge from Alonso in the closing stages, Verstappen refused to give it back, and that’s something we’re sure to hear a lot more about in the coming days as Red Bull kicks into gear defensive track again It didn’t look good. 5.
Sergio Pérez: In a podium position for much of the race, Pérez fell towards the end and never had the pace to threaten the Mercedes duo, or Sainz as it turned out.
He also let his feelings about Verstappen be known, as the first cracks began to appear in what had until then been a harmonious relationship. 6.
Esteban Ocon: And here’s another dynamic within the team that is increasingly creaking under the strain, with Ocon’s history of on-track clashes being brought out by Alonso in the media pen after of sprinting like I was in divorce court. .
There was certainly no unqualified compliance from the Frenchman when he told him not to fight Alonso after the safety car restart, but this still has to be a strong response from Ocon after Szafnauer’s rebuke on previous day 7.5.
Valtteri Bottas: Two more valuable points for Alfa Romeo courtesy of Bottas which gives them a slightly more comfortable cushion over Aston Martin heading into the final.
It seemed to be more when he was in the top six, but he had to give his best to the Alpines. Still, it saw a performance that thoroughly earned the Movember mustachioed Finn’s post-race beer. 7.
Lance Stroll: A relatively quiet race for Stroll, but that wasn’t bad considering some of the trouble he’s been in lately, most recently with his own teammate in the sprint.
Who knows, this lone point may still prove valuable in the final tally as Aston Martin tries to chase down Alfa Romeo. 7.
Sebastian Vettel: In his penultimate F1 race, barring a comeback, team principal Mike Krack thanked Vettel for “having to step aside to let Lance challenge for ninth”.
The German was stuck on aging medium tires at the time and admitted: “I don’t think we could have done much more than we did.”
However, he had a very strong first stint, running at the lofty heights of P5 and many once again questioned whether he is making the right decision to retire at the end of the season. 7.
Pierre Gasly: After driving “unnecessarily slowly”, according to the FIA, on his way to the sprint grid and after speeding in the pit lane on Sunday, it was almost as if Gasly was trying to get his ban out of race potentially imminent. long before joining Alpine.
But he will still have another grand prize in AlphaTauri colours, even if this was another race, due to his car’s less-than-distinguished performance, which probably left the Frenchman wishing the season was already over. 6.
Zhou Guanyu: A soft-medium-soft strategy for the Chinese rider meant a 34-lap final stage, and he also had problems with his turbo and drinking straw getting stuck in his helmet at the start of the race!
However, unlike others, his relationship with Bottas remains a dory. “I want to thank Zhou for being a real team player today,” said the Finn, and from his days at Mercedes, he should know all about it. 6.5
Mick Schumacher: A better sprint than a grand prix for Schumacher, but how much will he have done this weekend to affect his chances of staying at Haas? Very little, if the rumors are to be believed.
The German felt he had spent too much time on the medium tires he started the race with as he eventually slipped a couple of places from where he had lined up. 6.
Alex Albon: Starting on hard tyres, Albon made a quick switch to mediums on lap five, but it was the second Safety Car period that he said had been costly, lamenting: “I don’t know why it took so long to leave it. the backmarkers through”.
This was not a favorable track for the Williams, but at least Albon made it home, which he did not in the sprint, and consequently lined up at the back. 6.
Nicholas Latifi: There is only one more race left in his F1 career for Latifi and it may be a blessed relief when he sees the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi.
The best that can be said is that he kept a low profile at Interlagos, staying out of trouble, while a slow stop didn’t help his cause. 5.
Yuki Tsunoda: Rarely does a race go by without a story attached to Tsunoda and it happened again as he found himself among the favorites on the final safety car restart after initially looking to break away.
He later said he had been told to stay where he was, but it was a confusing end to an inauspicious race that had started from the pit lane. 5.
It didn’t end
Lando Norris: It’s the first time Norris has raced in F1 on his birthday and unfortunately he will remember his 23rd for all the wrong reasons, not least because he was still feeling the effects of a stomach infection that had plagued him throughout weekend.
He was given a five-second penalty for an early collision with Leclerc and had dropped down the order when he was forced to park with a suspected electrical problem. Better birthdays are ahead, no doubt. 5.
Kevin Magnussen: Daniel Ricciardo clipped from behind and as he spun, Magnussen took them both out of the race.
A sad way to end a weekend that had started perfectly with his first F1 pole position and that of Haas. Just for this qualifying achievement… 10.
Daniel Ricciardo: Just when he should be proving he will be a viable option for 2024, Ricciardo may have inadvertently edged closer to retirement.
The bugs are happening frequently now, he has zero consistency, and as painful as it is to write it, he’s looking more and more like yesterday’s man. 3.