George Russell paid emotional tribute to the generosity and support of his family, the Mercedes team and team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday after a flawless drive to his maiden full victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Briton, who had won Saturday’s sprint race to secure pole position for Sunday’s classic contest, dominated from lights to flag to finish 1.5 seconds clear of seven-time world champion Hamilton. It was the first one-two of the season for the ‘silver arrows’ and a great triumph for the team after a challenging and disappointing start to the year when they struggled to cope with the new ‘ground effect’ era in Formula One. Mercedes are now just 19 points behind Ferrari in their bid to finish second in the constructors’ championship, a position they felt was unlikely after struggling so badly in the first half of the season.