| Press Information 3 November 2024 |
F1: Session Report
2024 São Paulo Grand Prix - Sunday
Battling results for George in P4 and Lewis in P10 at Interlagos
- George Russell finished fourth and Lewis Hamilton tenth in Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
- In a compressed Sunday schedule, qualifying and the race were held on the same day, with qualifying at the unusually early hour of 07:30 local time.
- George led the field into Turn 1 after a strong start from P2, and headed the field until a VSC period was called on lap 28.
- Using the VSC period, which coincided with a heavy run shower the team called George to the pits to fit fresh intermediate tyres, followed by Norris from P2.
- George rejoined in P4, and was passed for P5 by Norris before the race was red flagged.
- Resuming after the red flag, George climbed to P4 but was unable to make further progress without the overtaking assistance of DRS.
- Lewis started from P14 owing to incidents for other cars in qualifying and drove a battling race to secure the final point.
- Struggling throughout for rear grip and confidence, Lewis spent the final stint stuck behind Lawson's slower car, unable to pass in the wet conditions.
Driver | Grid | Result | Fastest Lap | |
George Russell | P2 | P4 | 1:21.645 | |
Lewis Hamilton | P14 | P10 | 1:22.041 |
Strategy | Start | Stop 1 | ||
No.63 | Intermediate | Intermediate (lap 28) | ||
No.44 | Intermediate | Intermediate (red flag) |
George Russell
That was an intense race and there's lots for us to debrief and learn from. I got a good start and I was surprised at the pace in the opening stint - we didn't have the right tyre pressures on the set, and we were expecting them to drop off, so that was encouraging. When the VSC came with the heavy rain, I was in favour of staying out as I thought there would be a red flag - it was like driving a point at points, with the aquaplaning on the straights. I pitted and so did Lando, and we ended up P4 and P6 at the finish, while the cars that stayed out finished ahead. But it's easy to make the call after the race, and we're in this together, trying to make the best calls with the information we have available. I think we would have taken P4 at the start of the weekend; but of course, after qualifying P2 and running in the lead for the first half of the race, it's hard not to feel some regret for the opportunity we missed today.
Lewis Hamilton
That was such a tough race for us today - and probably one of the most difficult race weekends of the season, to be honest. The car has been very difficult to drive all weekend, and it didn't hook up at any point during the race either. But even with the results today, it's hard to come away upset because the fans here are incredible. It was such an unusual day with the early qualifying session, and they were queuing up from 04:00 this morning - and you just cannot beat that commitment and positivity, no matter what the result on track. It was so emotional to drive Senna's car in front of them all this morning, and to connect with the five-year-old child inside of me. That was a very special moment for me, and I'm very grateful we could make it happen today in spite of the conditions.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
It has been a tough triple header for the team - and the final day of competition continued in very much the same way. Qualifying and the race itself were bittersweet: Lewis struggled for confidence in the car, and did not progress past Q1 in a session that saw several cars finish out of position; George was able to build greater confidence in the rear end in particular and took a strong P2 on the grid. The aborted start led to some unusual circumstances but when the race proper began, George ran strongly at the head of the field until the VSC came out at the same time as a heavy rain shower. We wanted to use that opportunity to change his worn intermediate tyres and were followed into the pits by Norris from second place - while Verstappen and the Alpine drivers stayed out and took the gamble on a Safety Car or red flag, which subsequently came. When racing resumed, with everybody on new tyres, George was able to get past Leclerc into P4 but then - as we saw up and down the field today - got stuck behind an ultimately slower car and was unable to overtake, without DRS available. It was the same story for Lewis a little further back, who climbed into the points but was unable to pass Lawson despite several close attempts. P4 and P10 feel like a meagre reward after leading the first part of the race, but there's plenty for us to pick through and learn from across this weekend, and from the last three races. We will be focusing on that work in the coming days, to give ourselves the strongest foundation for the final triple header of the season
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