THE smile was wiped off Mercedes’ faces after this shocker in Sao Paulo that should ring alarm bells in their Brackley HQ. They were all smiles for those weekends – as Lewis Hamilton finished second in both races – albeit being disqualified in the US for a technicality with his car. Hamilton was eighth and George Russell – who won this race last year to give the team some motivation for 2023 – was told to retire the car on lap 58 of 71. The Ferrari man was due to start in second place but suffered a hydraulic failure and crashed into the barriers. Verstappen again got away cleanly for the second start and this time there were no further accidents as the remaining 17 cars made it round unscathed.

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