FORMULA 1

Brazilian GP sprint: Mercedes shine as Verstappen struggles

Franz Tost Germany

Brazilian GP offered a memorable sprint race with a lot of impressive racing action and drivers going wheel to wheel.

After a wet-dry qualifying, the sprint race started in dry conditions with rather clear skies and a sunny atmosphere. The grid was set with most of the drivers starting with the soft compound. Max Verstappen and Nicholas Latifi played a gamble starting on the medium Tyres – a risk that would prove costly.

Kevin Magnussen had a great start to the sprint starting from the pole. However, as expected, he started fading pretty soon and fell easy prey for a charging Verstappen by lap 3.

Nevertheless, Magnussen showcased an incredible performance with his Haas. The poleman was eventually pushed back to P8 still managing to clinch that crucial 1 point for the team.

We witnessed some hard racing on the course of the 24 laps of the sprint. Here are some key points of the 2022 Brazilian GP sprint race.

Verstappen failed to win his third sprint of the season

Max Verstappen managed to get past Kevin Magnussen on the turn at the start of lap 3. The Dutchman took the lead however, couldn’t hold it for long.

By lap 11, a charging George Russell was all over his rear wing. The Mercedes by that time was showing some incredible pace and chasing the red bull. The duo then went on to show us some incredible racing action over the next few laps with a lot of close and wheel-to-wheel racing.

Russell attempted multiple overtakes over the next couple of laps passing Verstappen ultimately on lap 15.

From there, Verstappen would further have contact with Carlos Sainz on turn 1 in lap 19. Verstappen’s front wing made contact with the left rear of Sainz damaging the endplate. This would result in lesser downforce for the Dutchman and ultimately fall prey to Lewis Hamilton.

After starting P2 and leading the race for almost 10 laps, Max Verstappen would come home in P4. Many reasons could have resulted in the poor performance. The major reason can be the choice of medium Tyres for the start of the race.

A wonderful afternoon for Mercedes

Mercedes was expected to perform well in the sprint. However, a win from George Russell was least expected given the form of Max Verstappen this season. Moreover, Red Bull still looked incredibly faster than Mercedes during the qualification.

Regardless, both Mercedes drivers showcased impressive driving. George Russell came home in P1 starting P3. Lewis Hamilton also managed to secure P3 by the end of the race after starting P8.

Another good news for the Mercedes garage is the fact that Carlos Sainz will be taking a five-place grid penalty. This means that both the Mercedes drivers will be starting on the front row for Sunday’s main race.

However, they will be closely followed by the red bull duo who start on the second row together. Tomorrow’s main race will be exciting seeing the starting grid of the race.

Click here for sprint race results,
Click here for Sunday’s starting grid,

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