For the first time in Forever
For the first time in his Formula 1 career, George Russell took the chequered flag first. The Brit was excellent and he finished ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
I love Interlagos
The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace showcases why the sprint is a good format. We had battles throughout the field and it was an incredibly enjoyable 30 minutes of action. Most importantly, we had a battle for the lead. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen led a lap, but he was quickly dispatched of all the front runners. Max Verstappen led the race on mediums whilst the two Mercedes and Carlos Sainz were all on softs. George caught up to Max, but Verstappen defended Russell off brilliantly. In the end though, it wasn’t enough as Russell finally got through. I’m not sure as to whether Max had an issue with his car or if the mediums weren’t the right tyre because he just didn’t have the pace. Carlos Sainz then sent one up the inside of Max and the two ended up colliding and this definitely gave Max damage meaning he was easy pickings for his 2021 championship rival Lewis Hamilton. An amazing day for Mercedes as due to Carlos’ 5 place penalty for taking another engine, both drivers will line up on the front row for the main race later on today.
The Highs and the Lows of the Sprint
I only gave one driver a rating of 10. I’m pretty sure that’s because it’s harder to give out the best and worst grades possible for the sprint. Anyway, that 10 obviously went to George Russell who was brilliant. I also thought Carlos and Lewis drove brilliantly and Lando, Seb and Mick Schumacher all had good sprint races. Well done to K-Mag for still managing to score a point as well.
In terms of the lowest possible grade, I gave out two 1’s. The first one is Esteban Ocon. Ocon shoved his teammate off the track in turn 4 on the first lap and I find this ridiculous because there are a total of 96 racing laps this weekend so why would you mess it up in the first one. His determination to beat his teammate is going to cost Alpine 4th in the constructors. The other guy I gave a one to was Nicholas Latifi. I’m not joking, Nicholas was nearly lapped in a sprint race! That’s literally all I need to say on this matter. Fernando also had a bad day and Lance’s driving against his teammate was also pretty awful.
Starting Grid for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and my Sprint grades
George Russell: 10
Lewis Hamilton: 9
Max Verstappen: 6
Sergio Perez: 6
Charles Leclerc: 6
Lando Norris: 8
Carlos Sainz: 9
Kevin Magnussen: 7
Sebastian Vettel: 8
Pierre Gasly: 7
Daniel Ricciardo: 5
Mick Schumacher: 8
Zhou Guanyu: 5
Valtteri Bottas: 4
Yuki Tsunoda: 3
Lance Stroll: 2
Esteban Ocon: 1
Fernando Alonso: 2
Nicholas Latifi: 1
Alex Albon: 3 (DNF)
My Predictions for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix
Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton
George Russell
Carlos Sainz
Sergio Perez
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