Following a shaken up Sprint, Russell looked confident on pole. Otmar, team principal of Alpine, told us that he has advised his battling drivers that they need to be cognisant that there are a thousand people working to get them on the track and not to push each other off it.
Hamilton, notably, did not sing along with the Brazilian national anthem, tut tut for an honourary citizen.
Russell got off to a great start and maintained his lead ahead of his team mate. It looked like everyone was clean away until, Ricciardo, out for "points and fun" and starting 11th, tagged pole winner Magnussen, who spun and came back round and took him out of the race. The Safety Car came out. No one pitted at first but Albon came in eventually for some new Medium tyres.
Russell managed to hold the lead from the restart but behind him old foes, Hamilton and Verstappen came together with the Red Bull needing a new front wing. Hamilton: "You know how Verstappem is." Immediately LeClerc and Norris tagged each other, sending LeClerc into the wall but able to escape and rejoin the race in 18th, right behind his championship nemesis this year. Ferrari were able to recover the podium place from Norris with Sainz overtaking him.
Despite these incidents all looking like racing incidents, Verstappen and Norris were both awarded 5 second penalties.
Just as LeClerc put in Fastest Lap, Ferrari called him to the pits for new tyres, in a very Ferrari move. There was a lot of potential pit stop overtakes but nothing of note. The displeasure with Alonso at Alpine manifested itself in a very long pit stop for him. Au revoir.
When Hamilton passed Perez for second place, the crowd went wild. I don't think anyone would mind a Mercedes victory at this race to feel reassured that there are a number of drivers that can win a race. An angry Hamilton came in for a third set of tyres as did Perez, then Russell.
Having soldiered through 52 laps, trying not to vomit or poop in in his pants, Norris lost power on his McLaren and came to a stop on the track. He sat dejectedly by the side of the track. A Virtual Safety Car was set then a real one came out. The McLaren was cleared and Russell was ready to lead the restart. He checked with his team whether he was racing Hamilton, who was right behind him, or whether they were going to hold position to maintain the 1 2.
Further back, Ocon was given firm instructions not to fight his team mate Alonso. Russell was clean away at the restart, then the main fight was Perez and Sainz, with Perez holding the place initially then losing it. Ocon "let" Alonso through, with Vettel falling back. LeClerc had finally made it back up to the place he started despite his team endlessly pitting him. Russell slowly pulled out enough of a lead to be out of hte DRS zone ahead of Hamilton. Perez became a sitting duck, with even Alonso taking 5th place from him. Vestappen was fighting back from calamity and easily took his team mate. LeClerc pushed and pushed for Sainz to give him the podium and extra championship points.
With Russell taking the win, I expect this means him and Hamilton will be bitter rivals next year. Somehow Hamilton took Driver of the Day, despite many other stronger contenders. Is this the surprise winner of the year that we've been waiting for? Not really, in my book. Verstappen was told to give the place back to Perez and refused. Examples up and down the parc ferme of how team mate relationships differ. I think the happier dynamics of this year will be gone next season.
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