Russell wins maiden race

GEORGE Russell claimed the first win of his Formula One career as old rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Pole-sitter Russell delivered an electric start at Interlagos before expertly surviving a late safety car as Mercedes finally got off the mark victory-wise at the penultimate round of the season.

The 24-year-old 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’s supreme display, 24 hours after he triumphed in Saturday’s sprint race, followed another altercation between Hamilton and Verstappen.

The duo came together on the restart after Daniel Ricciardo, in possibly the last but one outing of his F1 life, bumped Kevin Magnussen under braking. The Dane was sent spinning out of control, and both men were out of the race.

Hamilton recovered from the collision to take second – unable to challenge Russell in an 11-lap dash to the flag after Somerset’s Lando Norris stopped on the circuit prompting a safety car – while Verstappen, forced to stop for repairs, and then hit with a five-second penalty by the race stewards, finished sixth. Carlos Sainz took third for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc.