George Russell scores first career F1 victory in Brazil; Hamilton second

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Chased to the end by F1 Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, a tearful George Russell scored his first Formula One victory Sunday in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

It was also Mercedes’ first GP win of an otherwise disappointing season with Hamilton making it an impressive 1-2 for the team in a statement of intent for next season.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. completed the podium at Interlagos.

The 24-year-old Russell dominated the race in Sao Paulo after starting first because of his sprint race victory Saturday. He had seven podium finishes before Sunday’s victory.

Russell became the first British driver to hear “God Save the King” played for the race winner after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept. 8 and the accession of King Charles III.

“It has been an emotional roller coaster … Lewis put me under so much pressure,” an emotional Russell said. “This is just the beginning.”

Soak it in, @GeorgeRussell63 😁#BrazilGP #F1 @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/M2yyOd2424

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 14, 2022

Hamilton, who started second, had dropped to eighth after his car made contact with two-time series champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutchman was given a five-second penalty and finished in sixth place.

Hamilton did not want to elaborate on the incident with Verstappen.

“What can I say? You know how it is with Max,” Hamilton said after the race.

Verstappen and his Red Bull team already have been crowned F1 champions.

Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez seemed to be in disagreement at the end of the race.

Perez, who is still fighting for second place in the drivers’ championship, was sixth when he was overtaken by Verstappen near the end of the race and finished behind him.

After he was unable to pass the cars ahead of Perez, Verstappen was ordered by the team to allow his teammate to finish ahead of him and score more points, but the champion disagreed.

“I told you already. You guys don’t ask that again to me. Are you clear about that? I gave you my reasons and I stand by it,” Verstappen said.

Perez sounded upset on team radio. “It shows who he really is,” he said.

The Brazilian GP was the penultimate race of the season ahead of Abu Dhabi on Nov. 20.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

George Russell captures first F1 victory as Mercedes sweeps top two at Brazilian GP

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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