‘Petition to have every sprint at Brazil’: Fans left in awe of a thrilling São Paulo GP sprint race
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The start of the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix sprint (IMAGO / PanoramiC)
Not many would have predicted George Russell to outright win the sprint race, but that is exactly what has taken place. Russell started third but had very good pace, which became even more apparent as the race reached its middle stages. He and Max Verstappen were locked in a heated battle for the lead.
Verstappen was the only driver out of the frontrunners who started on medium tyres, and he reported on the radio that he ran over debris. This, along with the harder tyre compound he was on likely combined to contribute to his comparably worse pace than Russell, who had still kept up with him before, but by lap 12, it became clear he had better pace, and 3 laps later, he had passed the Dutchman.
3 laps later, Carlos Sainz passed Verstappen as well, and then Lewis Hamilton followed suit. The Ferrari has often struggled with tyre degradation since the summer break, but Sainz was able to keep Hamilton behind him to finish P2. There was a call by Sergio Perez to possibly switch places with Verstappen, as he is in a battle for P2 with Leclerc, but that did not go through as he would have liked.
Till date, this race is perhaps the best argument there is for sprint races to be on the calendar, as not everyone likes them. But this race was undoubtedly a crowd-pleaser. There was everything – a thrilling battle for the lead, recovery drives, teammates colliding, and more.
Fans react to the São Paulo GP sprint
The sprint races have often received mixed reviews, many feeling that they’ve not fulfilled their purpose to increase excitement across the weekend, but on this particular one, there is no doubt that it was a thriller.
Mercedes finished 1-3 in the sprint race, but they will be locking out the front row tomorrow because of Carlos Sainz’s 5-place grid penalty. This is a seasonal first for them – as the win (even though it is a sprint race) is. Mercedes’ fans are delighted with George Russell’s win and surely, this looks like their best chance of a win this season, even if Max Verstappen should be faster in the race than he was in the latter stages of the sprint.
It was rather obvious that Kevin Magnussen was never going to keep his P1, but he has attained Haas’ laid-out goal for the sprint: He’s stayed in the points and finished P8. He had even been able to keep the lead for some time until he was passed by Max Verstappen into turn 1 on lap 3. His teammate, Mick Schumacher, who had started P20 also had a good recovery, finishing P13, which was later upgraded to P12 due to Lance Stroll’s 10-second penalty.
There were also heated moments between Alpine teammates Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Ocon had pushed the Spaniard wide on Descida do Lago down to turn 5, making contact, and later, Alonso’s front wing made contact with Ocon’s right-rear tyre, necessitating a front-wing change for the two-time world champion.
Both of them soon dropped out of the points, but eventually, he finished 3 seconds in front of his French teammate. As he made clear with his radio message, Alonso was certainly not happy with what Ocon had done, and his fans are not impressed either.
Esteban Ocon’s car caught fire following the end of the race, and you can see what people thought of that.
The Alpine duo weren’t the only teammates to get precariously close during the sprint. While they were battling on the Reta Oposta (straight between turns 3 and 4), Lance Stroll pushed Sebastian Vettel onto the grass with a very late move, an extremely close call, and something that could have ended in tears. The Canadian received a 10-second penalty for this.
If the sprint race was so jam-packed full of action, then the race has the potential to be even better. The Alpines will be looking to make their way up the pack, as will Ferrari and Red Bull, but Mercedes will hope to fend off the charge.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)