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At the penultimate race of the 2022 Formula 1 season, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton delivered the type of performance expected from Mercedes at the beginning of the season. Russell nary put a wheel wrong in collecting his first win in Formula 1, running a superb race in which the team got everything right, from tire choice to strategy calls between him and Hamilton that covered any challenge Red Bull Racing might have made with Sergio Perez.
"It's an amazing feeling," Russell said after the race. "A huge thank you to the whole team. I felt in control, even with Lewis being super fast, and then I saw the safety car. There was so much pressure. … I'm speechless. On the in lap, all these memories .. mom and dad and go-karting … I'm just super proud."
Such was Russell's dominance that much of the drama was between Hamilton, Perez, Carlos Sainz Jr. and whether the former World Champion could keep the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers behind him. In a flip from Mexico City, where Red Bull clearly surprised Mercedes with its strategy calls, Mercedes was able to force strategy on Red Bull that left Perez dropping through the field on well-worn tires to seventh as Sainz snatched the third podium spot.
"Huge congratulations to George," Hamilton said. "What an amazing drive he had today, and he truly deserves."
Max Verstappen's race was over before a lap was complete after he came together with Hamilton at the start and damaged his front wing. The race stewards adjudicated that the Dutchman was at fault for the contact, so at his stop his team had to wait five seconds on a penalty before the pit crew could touch the car. He would charge back to mid-pack but never really threatened, but he did work his way up to sixth.
"What can I say," Hamilton said later. "You know how it is with Max."
Verstappen gave a different account of the situation to formula1.com.
"To be honest, I went around the outside, and I immediately felt he was not going to leave space. I just went for it, he didn't leave me space, so I knew we were going to get together," Verstappen recalled. "It cost him the race win. For me it gave me five seconds."
There will be some interesting conversations between drivers and teams after the race, where both Red Bull and Ferrari will be discussing some of the finer points of teamwork. At one point Red Bull radioed Verstappen to ask him to let Perez pass him, and Verstappen refused, saying, "I am not talking about this any more. I have already given my reasons."
For Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, who also suffered from an early race shunt to drive up the field to fourth, radioed the team to ask Sainz to let him through "for the drivers' championship" standings, where he is trying to finish second to Verstappen and is in a battle with Perez. Ferrari did not radio back, and Sainz finished third, on the final step of the podium, and ahead of Leclerc.
"I think we can be happy with this," Sainz said. "And congratulations to George."
Leclerc later took the time to clear the air about his request, saying, "I don't normally ask these type of things, but we had these discussions prior to the race, so that's why I asked about it. For some reason we changed our mind on that – I don't know yet, the reason."
Unofficial finishing order
- George Russell, Mercedes
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Fernando Alonso, Alpine
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
- Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo
- Mick Schumacher, Haas
- Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
- Alexander Albon, Williams
- Nicholas Latifi, Williams
- Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas
- Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
