George Russell has branded his win in the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint a milestone achievement for Mercedes after a difficult 2022.
Russell headed Carlos Sainz and team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the flag in the 24-lap hit out that sets the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.
He achieved the feat by chasing down and passing Max Verstappen before extending a near-four-second advantage by the finish.
It means the Brit will start from first place on the grid, with Hamilton alongside after an engine penalty for Sainz drops the Spaniard to seventh.
“I think it’s a pretty big milestone for the whole team,” Russell said of his Sprint win.
“When we look back at where we were at the very first sprint of the year, I think I finished eighth.
“And here we are going to be lining up one-two tomorrow, I think is really exciting.”
Both Mercedes drivers completed the Sprint on the soft compound tyre, while Verstappen opted for the medium.
The Dutchman’s choice proved to be the wrong one, though he suggested he didn’t have the pace to win the encounter regardless of which tyre he went for.
The world champion-elect has branded Mercedes “unbeatable” for Sunday’s race.
“We were confident that we could finish second, and we thought Max would probably have quite an easy run,” Russell said of his expectations heading into the Sprint.
“We knew that if we weren’t ahead of him at Turn 1, it was going to be very difficult to stay ahead of him.
“I started attacking in the early laps and I thought once he gets some temperature in his tyres, he’ll be away.
“It was a little bit tricky. You had to balance the risk-reward because obviously there’s only one extra point [for the win over second].
“As much as I want to win this race today, it’s only one extra point and it obviously is setting you up for tomorrow.
“So you had to be a little bit careful. And Max has got nothing to lose, really, so he was going to be driving aggressively.
“But definitely it was pleasing to get the move done.”
Russell’s pass on Verstappen came following a sustained attack of the Red Bull driver.
Twice he shaped up for a move into Turn 1 but was unable to make it stick before then using the slipstream through Turn 3 and down the back straight, aided by DRS, to have another go into Turn 4.
At the third time of asking, he finally found a way through, quickly pulling clear to claim his first Formula 1 win – albeit in a Sprint and not a race.
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