Hamilton finds "North Star" solace in Mercedes victory

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes has located its "North Star" after securing a first win of the season at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

George Russell dominated at Interlagos to clinch his maiden victory in F1 with Hamilton trailing to complete a first one-two finish for the Silver Arrows since Imola in 2020.

The result averted a first winless season for the Brackley-based team since 2011, with the majority of the campaign having been plagued by porpoising, mechanical bouncing and drag-efficiency issues.

In Brazil, however, the W13 was the best car on its tyres and in race trim was easily quicker than both Red Bull and Ferrari, proven by Carlos Sainz's inability to challenge the Mercedes duo after the late-race safety car despite having fitted fresher tyres.

Asked if this was a positive showing ahead of a potential resurgence next season, Hamilton replied: "Definitely is a great, great sign.

"For a long, long period of time, we can really, truly understand what the problem was or how to fix it.

"It was difficult because we kept trying and trying and trying and every time something new came, we still had the problems we had. So this is really, really huge.

"We know where our North Star is, we know where we need to put all our efforts into this winter.

"I'm so proud of the team for all the incredible hard work. We wouldn't be able to be up here without them."

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