Britain's George Russell wins maiden Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton

Pole-sitter Russell delivered an electric start at Interlagos before expertly surviving a late safety car to follow in the footsteps of Hamilton, Jenson Button and David Coulthard and become only the fourth British winner of a grand prix this century.

Russell’s supreme performance – 24 hours after he triumphed in Saturday’s sprint race – followed another collision between Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the latter penalised by the stewards.

But the day belonged to Russell, who in his 81st start, fourth season, and first alongside Hamilton at Mercedes, delivered the Silver Arrows’ opening win of a turbulent season. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished third and fourth for Ferrari, with Verstappen sixth.

“I need some tissues,” the 24-year-old Russell said from inside his crash helmet, seconds after the chequered flag fell. “I am crying, boys and girls.”

Later, he added: “I was pretty impressed by how quickly I started crying. By Turn 2, I was in floods of tears.”

Russell was twice denied a brilliant victory – first through a Mercedes pit-stop mistake and then a puncture – as a remarkable stand-in for a coronavirus-hit Hamilton at the Sakhir Grand Prix almost two years ago.

Here, he looked on course to cruise to the flag only for countryman Lando Norris to throw a spanner in the works when he broke down in his McLaren on lap 55. The safety car was sent out with Norris’ machine in a perilous position.

“So what are we doing?” asked Russell, with Hamilton, who had bounced back from eighth, following his coming together with Verstappen, to second, and now suddenly lurking in his team-mate’s mirrors.

“Are we racing? Or securing a one-two?”

“You are racing,” replied his race engineer, Riccardo Musconi. “Just be respectful.”

With Norris’ McLaren out the way, the race fired up again with 11 laps remaining, and Russell delivered another fine restart – his second of the afternoon following a first safety car when Daniel Ricciardo collided with Kevin Magnussen – to leave seven-time world champion Hamilton in his wake.

From there, his victory never looked in doubt. He crossed the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton as Mercedes completed a one-two finish. Russell now leads Hamilton by 23 points in the standings ahead of next week’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi.

“What an amazing feeling,” Russell said. “I have dreamt of this moment, many, many times.

“My career has been an emotional rollercoaster. This race was a really tough race. I felt in control. Lewis was super-fast and then, when I saw the safety car, I thought, ‘Oh, Jesus, this is going to be a really difficult end.

“He put me under so much pressure, but I am really happy to go home with the victory. I am speechless.

“On the lap back to the pits all of these memories came flooding back, starting off with my mum and dad in go-karting, going through with the support I have had from my family, my girlfriend, my trainer, my manager and then getting on the programme with Mercedes. The list is endless. I am super proud.”

Russell’s victory means Hamilton is now facing up to the prospect of losing his unique record of winning in every season.

“I want to say a huge congratulations to George,” said Hamilton, 37. “What an amazing job. He truly deserves it.

“I am so proud of my team. This is an incredible result. We worked so hard to get a win this season, so this is hugely, hugely deserved.”

Collision dispute

Hamilton and Verstappen tangled following a safety car re-start on the seventh lap in Interlagos as they duelled for second place through the Senna Esses.

Verstappen sensed an opportunity, and ducked out of Hamilton’s slipstream before going deeper on his brakes than the Englishman at the Senna Esses.

Hamilton held firm and Verstappen ran out of room, thudding into his rival’s Mercedes. Hamilton ran off the track, dropping down the order, with Verstappen’s front wing in bits.

“He left me no space,” complained Verstappen, who pulled into the pits for repairs. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton had a different version of events. “That was no racing incident, mate,” he said.

The double world champion was deemed at fault for the collision by the stewards and hit with a five-second penalty.

After the race, Hamilton, who was involved in a number of altercations with Verstappen during last season’s toxic title battle, said: “What can I say? You know how it is with Max.”

Verstappen responded: “I was not upset by the penalty, but if you ask me would I do it again? Absolutely.

“I went round the outside in turn one, and I just felt it as soon as I was going next to him that he had no intention to leave me space, and I was like, ‘Okay if you are not going to leave me space then we will just collide’.

“I thought after last year, we could forget about it and finally race. But you feel it with a driver – if he is going to leave you space or not – and there was zero intention to leave me space.”

Following an investigation, Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, said: “The stewards determined that Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton on the outside of turn one by braking very late.

“He did not complete the pass in turn one and his excess speed compromised his entry into turn two, at which point he made contact with Hamilton.

“While the stewards recognise that Hamilton could possibly have given a little more room at the apex of turn two, the stewards determined that Verstappen was predominantly at fault.”