2022 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race: Full Report & Highlights

George Russell delivered the defining performance of the 2022 São Paulo Sprint, out-duelling Max Verstappen in a relentless mid-race fight to take his first F1 Sprint victory and secure P1 on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver finished ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and teammate Lewis Hamilton in a dramatic 24-lap showdown that pushed every strategic decision—from tyre choice to overtaking timing—into the spotlight at Interlagos.

Friday’s rain-soaked qualifying session produced one of the shocks of the season, with Kevin Magnussen taking a sensational pole for Haas to start the Sprint in P1 ahead of Verstappen, Russell, and Lando Norris. After the paddock caught its breath, all focus shifted to tyre strategy for the 100km dash. As blankets came off under warm skies, the surprise was immediate: Verstappen and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi opted for medium tyres, while the remaining 18 runners committed to softs—setting up a fascinating strategic split.

At lights-out, Magnussen put his soft tyres to ideal use, launching cleanly to protect his hard-earned pole advantage. Verstappen held second under heavy pressure from Russell through the first corners, clinging to P2 despite the Mercedes’ aggressive challenges. Behind them, Sainz nearly passed the under-the-weather Norris before the two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso dramatically made contact at Turn 4, then again on the pit straight—an incident later flagged for investigation.

Alonso fumed over team radio, lamenting front-wing damage as he pitted, while Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer admitted Ocon “could have given him a bit more room.” Up ahead, Sainz completed the move on Norris at the Senna Esses on Lap 2, while Verstappen continued to defend from Russell as Magnussen proudly led Haas’ first-ever lap at the front of a Formula 1 race.

Magnussen’s spell at the top ended on Lap 3, Verstappen building temperature in his mediums to slipstream past on the main straight. Russell and Sainz followed a lap later, demoting the pole-sitter but not diminishing Haas’ achievement. Further back, Hamilton, Sergio Pérez, and Charles Leclerc began carving through the field after subdued qualifying results, pushing Magnussen down the order.

Amid the Alpine chaos, another teammate dispute erupted as Lance Stroll earned a 10-second penalty for forcing Sebastian Vettel onto the grass between Turns 3 and 4—another reminder of how unforgiving Interlagos can be. But the real drama unfolded at the front as the Sprint approached half-distance. Russell, finally in consistent DRS range, pressed Verstappen hard as the Dutchman struggled to extract grip from his mediums.

After a bold first attempt on Lap 12 and a brief pause while Alex Albon’s stationary Williams was cleared, Russell struck decisively on Lap 15. He tucked into Verstappen’s slipstream out of the Senna Esses and swept around the outside of Turn 4 with supreme confidence, completing one of the overtakes of the season. Verstappen’s difficulties compounded when Sainz muscled past him into Turn 1 on Lap 19, light contact between the Ferrari’s rear wheel and Verstappen’s front wing leaving the Red Bull with damage that soon allowed Hamilton through as well.

Russell controlled the remainder of the Sprint, taking the win and locking in P1 for Sunday. Sainz managed tyre drop-off to claim second, while Hamilton made it a Mercedes 1-3 prior to Sainz’s five-place grid penalty for a new engine. Verstappen finished fourth after a bruising final laps, with Pérez fifth.

Leclerc recovered to P6 after his tricky qualifying, and Norris also passed Magnussen as the Haas driver salvaged the final point on offer under the 2022 Sprint format. Vettel finished ninth after his clash with Stroll, followed by Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher, and the sparring Alfa Romeo duo Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas.

Post-race investigations loomed for Hamilton, Ricciardo, and Zhou after possible start procedure infringements, meaning the classified points scorers could still change. Further down, Alonso—hampered by his contact with Ocon and subsequent stop—finished P15, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, Stroll, Ocon, and Nicholas Latifi. Albon, the sole retirement, parked up with technical trouble.

Later, stewards determined Alonso was at fault for the second clash with Ocon, giving him a five-second penalty and two licence penalty points—dropping him to P18 on Sunday’s grid as Tsunoda, Stroll, and Ocon moved up.

2022 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race Results

2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Race, 12 November 2022