First victory for Russell, podium for Carlos Sainz and miracle for Fernando Alonso at Interlagos

Up to three times they had to explain to

by radio that he had to let

pass .

That the Asturian came from behind with better pace and better tires.

That the rival was the pilot of another team and not his partner.

And ultimately, that another skit like the one on Saturday was unacceptable.

"Confirm that you have understood", they ended up telling him, because he was still raising some objection.

Although at the moment of truth the Monegasque opened the door for him and Alonso, who had started 17th, flew past fifth place on the way.

[Narration and classifications]

It was the culmination of a crazy race, marked by the incidents that followed two

and that

dominated from start to finish.

The Briton was the only leading man to emerge from the chaos, and he rounded off a great weekend - he also won Saturday's sprint - with his first career win.

He behind

, underlining the superiority of Mercedes in this Brazilian Grand Prix.

And in third place

, who was on the podium for the ninth time this year.

Who would have thought that Friday's qualifying, with the rain, the mistakes and Russell's accident that left that symbolic pole in the hands of

, it was not going to be the most chaotic that Interlagos would experience.

And who than the Dane who would end the weekend in such an absurd way, rammed by Ricciardo as soon as he started in the slowest corner of the circuit.

There yes, seeing that an incident so often caused an eternal exit from the

, anything could be expected.

And as if the safety car had been bottling all the racing pressure, it was to pull away and unleash the madness.

First a clash between Verstappen and Hamilton, which left the Dutchman without a gap when he tried to overtake him from the outside;

and a blink later, another of Leclerc with Norris, who threw himself on top of the Monegasque when he tried to sneak inside.

In a matter of seconds, Russell's path to victory was cleared and Sainz's door to the podium opened.

Russell's task was much 'easier', as his two main rivals for victory eliminated each other with a stroke of the pen.

The Briton, also winner of the sprint race, maintained the excellent level of the weekend.

Almost the best sign in such a busy career was that there was hardly any news of him.

The Mexican

, 40 laps chasing him, was never a real threat.

This has been the pace of the Mercedes in Interlagos.

It was also very clear to Carlos Sainz, who with thirty laps to go was already telling his team on the radio.

"My career is with Checo," said the man from Madrid, with Red Bull still more than 10 seconds behind and Hamilton between the two.

The seven-time world champion had come out better from the touch with Verstappen and had been devouring what he found in his path.

Pérez, with medium tires exhausted, was not an obstacle for the British couple.

Pissed off Checo Pérez

If there was any doubt about that heads-up between Sainz and Pérez, if he lacked incentive, he came with a new safety car to compress the race.

The break, again with Norris involved - this time due to a problem with the car - settled the small battles.

His with the Mexican for the third step of the podium and Alonso's with those he had ahead of him.

Or with.

Vettel.

Boots.

Perez.

Because the Mexican, with bleeding tires, defended himself as best he could but ended up losing positions.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth.

Sixth.

And a seventh that made him explode: on the last lap, Red Bull ordered Verstappen to let himself be overtaken by his teammate so that he could score a few more points, but the Dutchman, already world champion, flatly refused.

"I already told you. I gave you my reasons," he settled.

Pérez responded in a mixed zone.

"I think if he has two titles it's thanks to me."

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• Fernando Alonso

• Kevin Magnussen

• Lewis Hamilton