Russell (10 with honors) more than a teacher, Sainz (8) great work, Leclerc (5.5) hasty- Corriere.it

The curves and ups and downs of Interlagos do not betray the expectations and offer not an end-of-season balance but one of the most beautiful GPs of the F1 year. In front of 300,000 spectators and the torcida pro Hamilton, however, the other Mercedes man, George Russell, greeted the first victory of his career: rightly so, the “Silver Arrows” owed it to him from Bahrain 2020, when he was drawn for a race from Williams where he was parked and saw the victory fade due to a great mistake at the pit stop. But time, fortunately, is a gentleman.

George Russell: 10 and praise

Let’s start with him, the British talent, master of high-level regularity who finally rises to the papal throne (translation: first career victory). TO St. Paul he did everything perfectly: success in the sprint race, replication (much more important) in the real GP, sprinting like a hare from pole position and immediately clearing the table. Chapeu: it was from 2010 (Button-Hamilton with McLaren) that in F1 there was not a double from British drivers. And after Hamilton he is the first British to get on the highest podium.

Mercedes: 10

It may be for the help of the famous “directive 39”, the one introduced to reduce the phenomenon of hopping at high speeds of the new single-seaters, but the facts say that the W13s are no longer the disastrous cars of the beginning of the season, but rather the single-seaters they have achieved. a winning status. In fact it seemed strange that the firepower of the Teutonic battleship, based in Brackley and Brixworth (for the engine part), would fail. The Brazilian full of points puts the Arrows within range of Ferrari for a potential overtaking-insult to Abu Dhabi, up for grabs the second place among the constructors. But more than anything else, the first double in a long time (a success that leads to three, with Red Bull and Ferrari, the winning teams in the year) invites us to look forward to 2023. One thought makes its way: Mercedes is ready again. to dictate the law. Tremble, tremble, the witches are back.

Lewis Hamilton: 9.5

He was voted driver of the day, but in our opinion it is a bit excessive because the start so-so actually determines the subjection to Russell. Verstappen then touches him in the attack after the restart from the first safety car and this is certainly a misfortune, which however allows him to show all his class in the comeback. Another element in his favor: after protesting the timing of a pit stop that clearly explained the team’s intention not to ruin Russell’s leadership, he accepted the decision with gentleness. But the news recalls that he has only one race left to avoid an epochal zero in the box of seasonal victories.

Fernando Alonso: 9

After the “cornata” with team mate Esteban Ocon in the sprint on Saturday and the penalty on the grid, Fernando vented his anger in a thick test that earned him fifth place. In the high grade we also put the ability to take refuge in a subtle and ferocious joke with which he refrains – as in his heart he would like to do – from sending the colleague to hell and the Alpine who can’t manage internal rivalries: «I can’t wait for the Abu Dhabi GP to arrive. To be able to try the green car immediately afterwards ”(editor’s note: the Aston Martin for which he will race until 2024).

Carlos Sainz: 8

Great work and great movement to recover from seventh position on the grid (he was discounting a -5 for the replacement of the internal combustion engine) up to the podium also in the GP, after second place in the sprint test. He had to anticipate the first pit stop because the visor “sown” on the track by a colleague had slipped into the right rear brake basket, risking roasting the F1-75. Then, in the final, Carlos took a little too long to pass Perez and this cost him the chance to try to undermine the two Mercedes at the last minute.

Ferrari: 7

Leclerc’s sensational tire error in qualifying for the sprint race is redeemed by a positive week ending both in terms of results (double podium with Sainz) and in terms of the good performance of the car after the fool of Mexico City. In terms of respect for the Spaniard and his race, the decision not to exchange Sainz’s position with that of Leclerc, who in the World Championship would have found himself in second place and not on equal points with Perez: in ours I believe that reason of state does not always have to prevail over other values. Rather, thinking about the constructors’ classification, the roar of Mercedes, which has reduced the gap to 19 points, is disturbing: the risk of overtaking-mockery in Abu Dhabi is anything but uncertain. As a warning, the reflection of Carlos Sainz applies: “Compared to Mercedes we are on the defensive”.

Valtteri Bottas: 7

Re Pasticcio was not sorry this time either: in the race we saw traces of liveliness on his part. He sailed up to sixth place, proposing a couple of significant flashes, then he had to settle for an eighth place that to him and to theAlfa Romeo it goes a bit tight.

Charles Leclerc: 5.5

We are not advocates at all costs of the prevailing “leclerchism”. In our opinion, the attack on Norris on the outside, at a point where overtaking fails nine times out of ten, is a mistake that cost Leclerc the chance to experience a very different race. And the fact that he almost managed to overtake the Englishman (who touched him, knocking him out, after skidding down a curb) only reinforces the concept of the hasty maneuver in the wrong place: if he had waited for the finish straight , Charles would have eaten it as a salad. Then, of course, he got back up, invited Sainz to hurry up and pass Perez and demanded that the team send him to the podium in place of the Spaniard. His request rejected (rightly), which however feeds a suspicion: are we really sure that there is an idyllic climate between the two?

Max Verstappen: 4

Let’s leave aside the feats, such as the contemporary overtaking of Bottas and Ocon: this time the bi-world champion deserves to go behind the blackboard for the collision with Hamilton and for the arrogance with which he disobeyed the order of the team (“Do not pass Perez”; two seconds later he had already done the opposite …) and, finally, for the failure to return the position to the Mexican, fighting with Leclerc for second place world champion. The response to the request for explanations is irritating: “I know and I already told you last time: don’t ask me such a thing again, okay?”. Terrible.

Red Bull: 3

Suddenly here is the inconsistency in the team that has branded the season. There is no proof of what Verstappen would have done without contact with Hamilton and the need to rebuild the race from the rear of the platoon, but at Interlagos Red Bull appeared vulnerable for the first time after months of domination. And in addition “rooster” Verstappen has raised the crest too much, making the team look like someone who is unable to command an employee on the payroll.

Daniel Ricciardo: 2

A donkey job to touch Magnussen and immediately ruin his race and that of the Dane: Daniel would do better to cross out 2022 from his memories. Meanwhile McLaren collects a zero and sees the advantage of theAlpine in the fight for fourth place among the constructors.

Fia: 1

Even a blind man would have understood that when Norris stopped with the McLaren “kaputt” the safety car had to be sent immediately to the track. The sloths in the control room instead took two laps, using only the virtual safety car, before taking the measure. Plus, when the security car came back in, a mess was made with theAlpha Tauri of Tsunoda, which should have doubled and instead did not. Hours later a statement arrived explaining that this was right, but that, due to the characteristics of the Interlagos track, an anomaly had arisen “which does not require urgent interventions but which will be addressed at the next meeting of the Sports Commission. to be eliminated ». Better late than never, but how many other flaws will ever be hidden in the folds of the regulation?