Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Emotional George Russell savours the journey to victory
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Russell spent three years at Williams before joining Mercedes for 2022
It took only a few hundred metres after George Russell crossed the line to take his maiden grand prix victory in Brazil on Sunday for the tears to start to flow.
In those moments, the Mercedes driver said, all the emotions and memories of his journey came flooding back.
A childhood in Norfolk. Travelling up and down the UK to races in a camper van. Up through the junior categories. All the support he had had, from his family, from Mercedes, and more, he said.
And now achieving the dream of every young man who starts out in motorsport, a moment he had "dreamt of many, many times".
"I was pretty impressed how quickly I started crying," Russell said. "It was literally by the time I got to Turn Two tears were flooding.
"It's just been such an emotional roller coaster and journey for all of us."
And there was another thought, too. Of a photograph taken 13 years ago, featuring an 11-year-old Russell gazing admiringly at the reigning Formula 1 world champion of the time. A certain Lewis Hamilton; the man who was standing alongside Russell on the podium at Interlagos.
"It is unbelievable how quickly time flies," Russell said, "and it makes you realise you have to make the most of every moment. And here we are, 13 years later, team-mates and on this journey together.
"And we've truly been on this journey together this year. Our goals have been clear - we need to work together to get Mercedes back to where they belong.
"So we're really pleased that we have such a good, honest, transparent relationship. And we're here to win. We're here to fight. And I think it just shows all the efforts that everybody's been putting in throughout this season."
'This is really huge'
Russell's victory at the historic Interlagos circuit was a landmark moment in Formula 1 in a number of ways.
Not only was it the 24-year-old's maiden grand prix win, one taken in controlled style with a consummate drive from a man who has long looked a world champion in the making, and has more than proved that status this year, his first in a top team.
It was also Mercedes' first win of a long, hard season, which they started with a car a second and more off the pace, and had a major aerodynamic instability that at first they did not understand and which took them more than three months to solve.
On top of that, it was the first time Red Bull, runaway champions this year, have lost a race since Austria back in mid-July. And the first time Max Verstappen, who won his second world title three races ago, has been beaten fair and square in a straight fight since then, too.
As Hamilton put it: "This is really huge."
'The pressure was immense'
For Russell, this moment has been a long time coming. He should have first stood on the top step of an F1 podium two years ago, when he produced a starring performance as a stand-in for a Covid-stricken Hamilton in Bahrain, only to be stopped by two different problems - a pit mix-up by Mercedes, and then a puncture when he looked set to win despite that.
He had to return to back-of-the-grid Williams after that, for a final season at the team Mercedes put him to learn the ropes. He finally got his chance in a Mercedes at the start of this year - a year too late, Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff has said several times, and again on Sunday.
Given Mercedes' form in recent years, Russell went into 2022 expecting to fight for victories and the world title, only to find the team had produced their worst car for a decade, and that he and Hamilton were set for a trying year helping the team work out how to fix it.
Mercedes have been inching forward all year. And after a major upgrade at the United States Grand Prix, they fought for victory in Austin and Mexico before finally delivering in Brazil.
Some might have thought it would be Hamilton who would finally deliver Mercedes their win, but Russell was on fire in Brazil. He started Saturday's sprint race third and fought past Verstappen and pole man Kevin Magnussen of Haas to win that, putting him on pole for the grand prix.
On Sunday, he was composure personified, despite having Hamilton beside him on the front row, and Verstappen right behind.
Russell won the start, survived a safety-car restart early on. And then, when Verstappen and Hamilton collided, took total control and never once looking like letting go, even when a second safety car put Hamilton on his tail again for the final 10 laps.
"I knew how quick Lewis was, and when that safety car came out, I thought, 'God this is going to be very, very tricky now'," Russell said.
"The pressure Lewis put me under was immense. There was a sort of a moment in the race where I was looking a lot at my mirrors, seeing Lewis there.
"But I sort of realised I just need to look forward now. And the only way I'm going to win this race, is by looking ahead, driving as fast as I can, making no mistakes.
"My engineer was on the radio, giving me the gaps, probably four times a lap. And it was always between 1.1 seconds and 1.3, 1.1, 1.4, 1.1. I just wanted that little extra half a second buffer. It was only when I came into sector three on the last lap that I knew we'd got it."
Unbeknown to Russell, his car was suffering a water leak from half distance on. The team decided not to tell him about it.
"We were concerned we would be four or five laps from the finish and not making it," team boss Toto Wolff said. "But we all agreed we would let him drive to the end without water. On whatever was there to cool it."
Mercedes took their first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
'The drinks are on me'
Wolff, the man who gave Russell his opportunity in F1, was not in Sao Paulo to see him achieve this milestone. But he, too, said he had his own memories come flooding back. His were of the moment Russell went to the Mercedes factory to make his pitch to be made a member of their junior driver programme.
"At the end of the race," Wolff said, "I thought about how he walked in as a 16-year-old in his suit and tie and his PowerPoint presentation.
"He is the first of our new junior programme who has won a race. Lewis is the most successful of those who have graduated from the junior academy, of course, but six years later George is a grand prix winner, deserved."
In the post-race news conference, Russell was asked how he was going to celebrate. He said he had just been discussing that with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who finished third on Sunday.
"We're on the same flight tonight going direct to Abu Dhabi (for the season's final race)," he said. "It's a 15-hour flight. So, yeah…"
Sainz interjected: "I said: 'Drinks are on me.'"
"I think they're free on the plane, aren't they?" Russell said.
"That's why they're on me!"
It will be some flight.
Confusion, progress and a breakthrough
After his win, Russell reflected on how far Mercedes have come this year, to be winning again after a season that started with a car that was not only miles off the pace, but also suffered from an aerodynamic phenomenon known as "porpoising", which led it to bounce violently on the straights.
"We were fighting with Alfa Romeo and Haas at the start of the season," Russell said. "And well over a second at points behind Ferrari, who were looking the most dominant team.
"It really goes to show the improvement we've made. We lost so much time trying to solve the porpoising issues and that really hurt our development.
"I think that's why we're seeing such a jump in performance in these past eight races. It's because we're no longer focusing on the porpoising and we're now focused on bringing performance."
There have been flashes of pace all season, increasingly so as Mercedes began to get to grips with the car.
But it was an upgrade for the US Grand Prix last month that has made the final, key difference. It made the car lighter and added downforce, and since then Mercedes have fought for victory at all three events, in Austin, Mexico and now this win in Brazil.
Russell's path to victory was arguably eased by the collision between Hamilton and Verstappen that took the Red Bull driver out of contention early on. But the world champion said he was not quick enough anyway - just as in the sprint on Saturday.
"We just had no pace," Verstappen said. "As soon as I tried to push a little on the tyres, it was the same story as yesterday. I was just degrading (them) too much. We tried a few different things but it never seemed as if it was doing a lot for the performance."
Hamilton said it felt a little as if the other teams had come back to Mercedes in Brazil. And Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said they would have to analyse whether they had missed something.
Russell feels they will be behind Red Bull again in Abu Dhabi this coming weekend.
But none of this should detract from the hugely impressive step forward Mercedes have made this season - and what it could mean for 2023.
"It definitely is great, great sign," Hamilton said. "For a long time, we couldn't understand what the problem was or how to fix it. And it was difficult because we kept trying and trying and every time something new came we still had the problems we had.
"This is really huge. We know where our north star is and where we have to put all our efforts this winter. I am so proud of the team."
Russell added: "If this is what we're capable of doing as a team, when the car is still performing… sub-optimally, who knows what we can achieve when we get it into a nicer window. And we really think next year we're going to have a car that will be feeling nicer, which will give Lewis and I more confidence to push it."
Hamilton and Verstappen were involved in a controversial move during last year's Brazilian Grand Prix
Hamilton & Verstappen open old wounds
Hamilton's race on Sunday was defined by a collision with his nemesis, Verstappen, in an incident that bore similarities to some of their many incidents during their intense title campaign last year.
Verstappen went for the outside at Turn One at the first safety car restart and was momentarily fractionally ahead on entry, only to drop back half a car's length through the corner. He went for the inside at Turn Two. Hamilton gave him some room, but not a full car's width, and Verstappen refused to back down.
Verstappen said Hamilton should have given him more space. The stewards handed the Dutchman a five-second penalty.
"Verstappen did not complete the pass in Turn One and his excess speed compromised his entry into Turn Two, at which point he made contact with Hamilton," the stewards' verdict said.
"While the stewards recognise that Hamilton could possibly have given a little more room at the apex of Turn Two, they determined that Verstappen was predominantly at fault."
Verstappen was unrepentant.
"I went around the outside in Turn One," the Red Bull driver said, "and I felt as soon as I was going next to him that he had no intention to leave me space. And I thought: 'OK, if you don't leave me space, then we are just going to collide.'
"At the end of there day, we were too slow anyway. For him, it ruined his chance to win the race. I thought after last year we maybe forget about it, we can finally race.
"I was surprised when I got the penalty, but if you ask me would I do it again, absolutely."
Hamilton said: "What can I say? You know how it is with Max."
And asked whether he had any concerns about racing with Verstappen in the future, he said: "I don't have any concerns. It's natural when you have the success and the numbers on your chest, that you become a bit of a target. But it's OK. It's nothing that I have not dealt with before."
If Mercedes can deliver on their expectations for 2023, Verstappen against Russell and Hamilton for an entire season will be something to see.