--- title: "George Russell Wins the 2022 F1 Brazil GP, His First GP Victory" description: "After winning the sprint race on Saturday, Mercedes' George Russell started from pole position and won the Brazil GP." date: "2022-11-13" modified: "2022-11-13" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/george-russell-wins-the-2022-f1-brazil-gp-his-first-gp-victory" categories: - "F1" - "News" - "Racing" --- # George Russell Wins the 2022 F1 Brazil GP, His First GP Victory ![]() *Photo | Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images* Mercedes' George Russell was in the groove all weekend. After winning[ Saturday's sprint race](), Russell secured pole position for today's Brazilian grand prix. And after a hard-fought battle with his own teammate Lewis Hamilton, Russell found himself crossing the finish line of a Formula 1 grand prix in first place for the first time in his young career. https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1591896750188527617 Hamilton, who finished second, was pushing hard, trying to get his first GP victory of the season. However, Russell was able to hold him off and Hamilton was hugely supportive of his teammate and his team overall. “Congratulations to George. This just goes back to everyone back at the factory," he said. While Russell started in pole position, the question leading up to the race was whether he be able to hold off Red Bull's[ Max Verstappen](), who's already secured the 2022 driver's championship. Verstappen has been nigh unstoppable this season and he started from third on the grid in Brazil. He's already won GPs this season from worse starting positions. However, Verstappen and Hamilton collided in lap 7, which forced Verstappen to pit to change his broken front wing. That dropped him back to 17th and he then suffered a five second penalty for colliding with Hamilton. There was some debate as to whose fault the collision was but the race stewards seem to have thought it was Verstappen's fault. He ended up finishing in fifth. ![]() *Photo | Peter J Fox/Getty Images* Verstappen wasn't as supportive of his own teammate as Hamilton was, though. In the final laps, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez was behind him in sixth place. Team Red Bull instructed Verstappen to let Perez pass, so he could add more points to his season's total, helping him secure a second-place finish in the driver's championship. However, Verstappen wasn't having it. After the race, when asked about why Verstappen wouldn't let him pass, Sergio Perez seemed frustrated with his teammate, especially after Perez had let Verstappen pass earlier in the race. "I was told to let him by, that I was going to get back the position," he said. "After all I've done for him, it's a bit disappointing, to be honest." None of that should take away from Russell's victory, though. He raced his heart out and was able to hold off his teammate, the best driver of the modern era, to secure his first F1 grand prix victory ever. Next week's Abu Dhabi grand prix is the final race of the season. *Have a tip? Send it to info@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()