This week's night race in Las Vegas delivered a perfect result for Mercedes driver George Russell who stormed to an emphatic victory having started from pole position after topping yesterday's qualifying.
The cold conditions proved to be just what the W15 needed to perform at its best. Russell finished qualifying a tenth ahead of Carlos Sainz, and then got a perfect launch when the starting lights went out on Saturday evening.
Russell led all but one of the 50 laps of the race, with his team mate Lewis Hamilton briefly standing in for him on lap 13 during the first pit stop cycle.
Russell's speed on Saturday proved too good for anyone to challenge, although Hamilton did try and chase him down in the closing stage only to end up 7.3s behind at the chequered flag.
However is first podium since Silverstone in July, and his first win since Austria in June (not including his post-race disqualification in Spa) did leave Russell with one problem when it came to post-race logistics.
“I was planning to fly in a couple of hours, but I’m definitely not getting on that flight!" he laughed in post-race interviews in parc ferme. "I’m going to enjoy this evening with all my team.
©Mercedes
“It’s been a dream of a weekend," he continued. "I don’t know how we’ve been so quick, but I’m just riding this wave right now.
"To get the victory here, pole position, a dominant weekend, one-two with Lewis as well ... We couldn’t have chosen a better place to make this happen.”
It proved to be about as smooth a race as he could possibly have hoped for - although he remained worried throughout in case something went awry. “I was just waiting for something to happen.
“The two races I’ve been on pole before, there’s always been chaos, rain, drying, always something happening," he said. “I was like, ‘I feel confident here, I’ve got a good gap’, but I was just waiting for something to happen.
"But it didn’t!" he added. "I guess our luck has turned and I’m just so, so happy right now.”
The race also exceeded expectations for his team mate after problems in qualifying left Hamilton starting today's race from tenth making it unlikely that he would be able to get on the podium.
But in fact he was the fastest car on track and scythed his way through the field, including a safety-conscious Max Verstappen, to put himself into second place by the finish.
Mercedes were the top scoring team in Vegas but remain in fourth place in the constructors championship. Russell has pulled away from Hamilton in sicth place in the drivers standings with two races remaining.
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