GEORGE THE FIRST

Old rivals clash again but it’s Brit Russell who wins big with the GP victory he craved

GEORGE RUSSELL broke his duck at the Brazilian Grand Prix – as old foes Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were involved in another altercation.

Pole-sitter Russell claimed the first win of his F1 career as Mercedes finally got off the mark at the penultimate round of the season as he pipped Hamilton.

And Russell did it in style yesterday, delivering an electric start at Interlagos that saw world champion Verstappen penalised for colliding with 2021 title rival Hamilton.

Hamilton recovered to take second – unable to challenge Russell in an 11-lap dash to the flag – while Verstappen, forced to stop for repairs and then hit with a five-second penalty by the stewards, finished sixth.

Russell, just 24 hours after he triumphed in Saturday’s sprint race, follows in the footsteps of Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard to become only the fourth British winner of a Grand Prix this century.

Russell was twice denied a brilliant victory – first through a Mercedes pit-stop mistake and then a puncture – as a remarkable stand-in for a coronavirus-hit Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix almost two years ago.

But this time in Sao Paulo, Russell, 24, completed the job after surviving a late Safety Car that bunched up the field and put Hamilton right behind him.

He said: “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster this season. Lewis was super-fast and, when I saw the safety car, I thought this was going to be a difficult end.

“And he put me under so much pressure – but I’m happy to go away with the victory. I’m speechless.”

Russell never relinquished control of a dramatic contest that initially saw Hamilton and Verstappen collide. The world champion complained Hamilton had not left him space – the Brit had a different version of events. “That was no racing incident, mate,” he said.

The stewards investigated the accident and sided with Hamilton.

Hamilton later said: “What can I say? You know how it is with Max.”

Hamilton dropped from second to eighth but was able to continue. He soon surged through the field but Russell was on course to cruise to the flag – before countryman Lando Norris threw a spanner in the works when he broke down in his Mclaren on lap 55.

With Hamilton suddenly in his mirrors, Russell asked his team: “Are we racing? Or securing a one-two?”

“You are racing,” replied his race engineer, Riccardo Musconi. “Just be respectful.”

With Norris’ Mclaren out the way, the race fired up again on lap 60 of 71 and Russell delivered another fine restart to leave Hamilton trailing. From there, his victory never looked in doubt,

On a bad day for Verstappen, the Dutchman also ignored an order from his Red Bull team to let Sergio Perez past at the end.

He was told to allow his team-mate to move past on the final lap, after the Mexican had done the same earlier so he could try to catch Fernando Alonso.