George Russell is a Formula 1 race winner after dominating Brazilian GP

It's been a long time coming, but Mercedes-AMG finally broke its duck in 2022 with a victory at the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix. Perhaps more interestingly, it wasn't Lewis Hamilton who gave the reprieve, but new signee George Russell.

The two British drivers started the race from the front, but an early safety car (SC) period on the opening lap bunched the field up. At the restart, Hamilton and bitter rival Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) made contact, dropping both down the order.

However, the Mercedes-AMG F1 car showed impressive pace around Interlagos, and it wasn't long before the seven-time F1 champion was behind his new teammate again.

The win in Brazil is a reward for the uphill battle that's been 2022. They were, at best, midfield challengers when the season started, and the eight months the season has been ongoing was about closing the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari.

And Russell, he's been the more consistent performer between him and Hamilton, though the champ managed to come to grips with the car to rake in better performances. Still, Hamilton recognised how difficult the year has been, reiterating it in the post-race interview: "We've worked so hard this year to get a win so this is hugely deserved by everybody."

The emotions come flooding out for our new winner ??Yes @GeorgeRussell63... you really did THAT!#BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/BLVZrWfjkb

It looked easy

But back to Brazil. Russell and Hamilton were poised to take victory, given how perfectly set up their cars were around here. Neither Red Bull nor Ferrari had an answer for their superior pace, which was reflected in the way they dominated the Sprint Race on Saturday and the race.

A highlight everyone looked forward to was when Russell asked the team if he