George Russell topped off his maiden victory in F1 at the Brazilian GP by taking the fastest lap of the race as Mercedes secured their first win of the 2022 season.
Russell was on pole for the race after he won the Sprint Race at Interlagos from third, and the Brit led in Sao Paolo from start to finish as he fended off challenges from teammate Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez to take a memorable first victory.
He set a fastest lap of the race of 1:20.153 as Mercedes marked up a memorable win, the team’s first since the same race last year when Hamilton surged through the field to keep his championship battle against Max Verstappen alive.
The result will give the team confidence that they will be able to challenge Red Bull for the title next season, with the gap to the 2022 champions closed significantly over the course of the season.
Driver of the Day
Russell’s performance was also recognised by the fans, with the Mercedes driver voted driver of the day for the 2022 Brazilian GP.
Russell was pushed the entire way to the flag by Hamilton in a race which was filled with drama behind the leader, with Hamilton colliding with 2021 rival Verstappen in an incident which earned the champion a 5 second time penalty and dropped him to the back of the pack.
Verstappen eventually rallied back to finish 6th overall, behind teammate Sergio Perez who struggled in the late stages after a safety car restart, and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
