John N
From an all-Mercedes front row to Max Verstappen struggling, Alpine in recovery mode, and a quick Carlos Sainz out of position due to a penalty to unpredictable weather this weekend, here are some key areas to keep an eye on when the lights go out at Interlagos.
1. Can Mercedes finally win in 2022?
To be honest: who had an all-Mercedes front row for Sunday’s race? If you did, you’d probably say you had Kevin Magnussen down for a pole position.
Mercedes have been improving for some time now but felt their best hope of a victory was Mexico City, so to lock out the front row at Interlagos will have been a welcome bonus.
And the bonus is potentially an apt word as George Russell overtook Max Verstappen to win the Sprint. Then Lewis Hamilton did the same before being promoted from third on the road to second on the grid by a penalty for Carlos Sainz.
Hamilton had to survive a post-race investigation for a start procedure infringement but was cleared to keep his result, leaving him alongside his teammate and with a car that looks good on its tire management. They are so good that they suffered less degradation on soft tires than Verstappen did on mediums.
Russell has started from the front before in Budapest, but he didn’t have Hamilton alongside him at that point, and if the pair of them can work together, they have an even better chance of securing that first win of the year than they did two weeks ago in Mexico.
2. Verstappen attacking, Mercedes defending
Verstappen was perplexed by his lack of pace, having started on a tire that should have been more robust than his rivals. The Dutchman was aware he might struggle in the opening half of the race on his mediums compared to the quicker soft compound but expected to finish strongly as the softs degraded.
Instead, it was Verstappen who couldn’t keep his tires alive as Russell closed in and overtook him, and then Sainz and Hamilton followed suit. Sainz’s penalty means the world champion starts third on the grid alongside teammate Sergio Perez, but for the first time this season, they’ve got two Mercedes drivers to try and beat.
If the degradation is a sign of things to come – and cars can’t change their set-up after the Sprint, don’t forget – then Verstappen will have to balance the need to attack the Mercedes pair with looking after his tires.
Verstappen’s woes came after overtaking pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen early, but the Dane drove smartly to secure the final point in eighth place. And that puts him closer to where the true Haas pace is, which Magnussen believes will help his performance on Sunday as he was losing so much time being overtaken in the Sprint.
Further points could be on the cards, and let’s be honest, would be fully deserved after his stunning qualifying result on Friday.
3. Sainz with grounds to make up
Sainz had a competitive start to the weekend on Friday and earned himself a starting spot in the top five for the Sprint. But he always knew that wherever he finished the 25 lap dash, he would take a grid penalty for Sunday, having taken a power unit penalty for using a sixth internal combustion engine (ICE).
A strong Saturday performance saw him secure second behind George Russell, but that penalty means he will be lining up in seventh place in a car that was in the mix for victory over a Sprint distance.
The upside is the new engine should be able to give Sainz a slight performance boost compared to some of the drivers who are using older units and trying to manage their mileage through to the end of the season and the long drag up to the finish line is the perfect scenario for him to make use of that advantage. Watch out for him as he tries to work toward the front.
4. The skies
You can only keep your eyes on the skies if you’re physically at Interlagos, but the weather has played a big role in the race weekend.
Friday’s qualifying was a brilliant mix of drizzle and dry spells that left the track damp and a challenge on slicks, meaning it was all about being out on the right tire at the right time.
The Sprint then saw warm and sunny conditions that impacted tire life. It appeared to catch out Verstappen and Red Bull, with Nicholas Latifi – the only other driver starting on mediums – also suffering heavily.
Whichever one of the two conditions we get on Sunday (and it could be either), it’s likely to have a major influence on how the race plays out.
5. Alpine in recovery mode
As days go for Alpine, Saturday was a tough one. Starting with both drivers in the Sprint’s top seven, the team sought double points and a strong grid position for the Grand Prix. But those hopes soon unraveled as Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso made contact twice in the space of a lap.
First, Alonso had to catch a slide when fighting on the outside of his teammate at Turn 4, damaging Ocon’s sidepod. Then the Spaniard broke his front wing against the rear of the sister car on the pit straight, earning both a trip to the stewards and Alonso a five-second time penalty.
Despite a pit stop for Alonso, he was able to recover to finish 15th with some encouraging lap times, but one driver he passed was Ocon, who was limping home with damage and had his car catch fire in Parc Ferme.
The repercussions of the fire are unknown, but Ocon’s best starting position will be 17th – where he finished the Sprint – and with Alonso alongside him after his penalty, the pair will need to put on an overtaking clinic to climb into the points. Still, they’ve got the pace to do so.
It could be a crucial recovery, too, with Lando Norris starting sixth and Daniel Ricciardo 11th, chasing the points that would close the five-point gap in the constructors’ championship fight even further.
