George Russell noted after his Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint win that the medium tyres are performing well adrift of the pace of the softs this weekend.
The Briton started third on Saturday behind polesitter Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and followed the Dutchman past the Haas, who secured pole after Russell’s spin in qualifying.
Verstappen started on the Mediums to give himself an extra set of Softs for the race, while the Mercedes driver elected to run the Softs.
READ MORE: Russell wins frantic F1 Sprint at Interlagos for Mercedes
Following a tremendous battle with the two-time champion, Russell cleared Verstappen for the lead, and broke away to take the victory.
While it does not count as an official race win, seeing the chequered flag first is a huge achievement for the 24-year-old.
“They all count, they all count. It was definitely a sweet feeling to cross that line in first position, and obviously making the move on Max wasn’t as straightforward as I would have liked it,” he told Sky Sports.
“Obviously he had a little bit less to lose than I had so I knew he was going to be defending pretty aggressively, but it’s so great to see the progress we’re making as a team.
“I’m so proud of all the work everyone’s been putting in, and it’s such a morale booster going into the winter regardless of the outcome tomorrow.
“This is a huge result for us.”
However, the Briton is aware that the Mediums will not be as effective as the Softs tomorrow, which he suggested could hinder Mercedes’ chances.
“I mean, obviously their loss today is going to be their gain tomorrow with that soft” noted Russell.
“That was clearly the best tyre, it’s a bit strange why it was so far off the pace. I don’t think anybody was really expecting that. We were 50/50 between going on the Softs and the Mediums.
“So, we’re ging to have to have a think tomorrow how we approach that because, at some point, we’re going to have to use the Mediums.
“And, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a pleasant experience.”
After such a tumultuous 2022 campaign, Russell feels that he and Lewis Hamilton, who rose from eighth to third behind Carlos Sainz, are making good progress together with the team.
“We’re definitely making steps forward,” he said.
“I think we’re definitely surprised as a team how competitive we’ve been. We know we brought a sizeable update to Austin but I think it’s definitely surprised ourselves how well it’s been performing, so we’ll definitely take that.
“Obviously, Max didn’t have his usual day and his pace in practice was really fast, so I expect Max and Red Bull still to be the driver and team to beat tomorrow.”
Pending a stewards’ review for a potential start infringement on Saturday, Russell and Hamilton will start one and two in the race due to Sainz’s penalty.
