Kevin Magnussen got off to an electrifying start to hold the lead after turn 1 as all drivers made it through without incident, unfortunately for him however the lead didn’t last long as Max Verstappen took the lead on lap 3 heading into turn 1, which most expected to happen. After Magnussen was passed by Verstappen he started to fall further down the field
Verstappen, on a completely different tyre strategy as opposed to the rest of the field sans Nicholas Latifi, started the sprint on the medium tyres while everyone else except himself and Latifi started on the softs. Verstappen started to pull away but George Russell went full attack on lap 12, getting DRS but failing to get pass the Red Bull on 2 separate occasions with DRS down the 2 straights. After Verstappen was passed by Russell, Carlos Sainz dived down the inside to take P2 and made contact, losing part of his front wing and then was easily passed by Hamilton as well. Red Bull appeared to make the wrong call putting Verstappen on the mediums for the sprint. Teammate Sergio Perez was able to reel in Verstappen quite easily after he fell from the podium runners as he takes crucial points in his battle with Leclerc for 2nd in the drivers championship to finish P
Russell finally made the move stick on lap 15 to wrestle the lead away from the double world champion. Lewis Hamilton made huge gains from P8 in his first race as an honorary Brazilian citizen, making the second home crowd go wild as he passed Verstappen for P3 on lap 20, keeping his remarkable Brazilian form to gain 5 spots for tomorrows race, converting his hot start to P2 thanks to Sainz’s penalty. The sprint has shaped up to be a stepping stone to what looks like to be Mercedes best chance to get a win this year
Carlos Sainz looked the much better of the 2 Ferrari’s as he excelled from P5 on the grid to get his way onto the podium. teammate Leclerc was stuck behind the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly for the first 7 laps which put a dent in his hopes to climb up the grid for tomorrow’s race. Sainz snuck past Verstappen, collecting part of the Red Bull’s wing on to finish P2, but will start from P7 due to a 5 place grid penalty. Leclerc will start P5 after what is another disappointing race for the Monegasque.
Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso nearly came together off the start. Alonso has recently been critical of Ocon’s driving, the move surely upsetting the Spaniard as it caused damage to his front wing which caused him to have to pit early to change it, effectively ruining his race and forcing him to start from way back tomorrow. They weren’t the only teammates to have a scrap as Lance Stroll pushed Sebastian Vettel on to the grass down the backstraight. Luckily for them neither had the incident like the Alpine’s, however Stroll did receive a 10 second time penalty for the move.
Alex Albon started the sprint 11th but retired on lap 13 which will put his Williams dead last for tomorrow, while teammate Nicholas Latifi was relatively nowhere during the sprint running the contra strategy on the mediums. The McLaren’s of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished P7 and P11. Magnussen ended up getting the final points paying position finishing P8, considering where he was on the grid, a welcome point for the Haas outfit.
Can Mercedes springboard Russell’s win in the sprint into a long overdue first win for the Silver Arrows tomorrow? Surely Red Bull and Ferrari will have something to say, but a mega start to the race weekend for Mercedes.