Mercedes-AMG Racing's George Russell took his first F1 pole Saturday at the Interlogos Circuit, Sao Paulo, Brazil for Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

In an exciting stint of racing halfway during the Sprint, Russell got the better of Red Bull's Max Verstappen on Lap 15 and continued to the checkers in the 24 lap Sprint.

Russell started the Sprint on soft tires while Verstappen started on mediums, one of only two drivers to do so on Saturday.

Verstappen, starting second on the grid, took the lead from pole sitter, Kevin Magnussen of Haas Racing, on Lap 3 of the Sprint.

"Obviously, it's difficult to know how Max would have got on had he been running the Soft tyres - but it's still a great feeling to come out on top," said Russell. "It was a nice battle - in the Sprint, you're always managing the balance of risk and reward, and I didn't want to take too many risks and end up starting at the back - but I also wanted that victory."

Verstappen was passed by Ferrari's Carlos Seinz, also on softs, on Lap 19. The pass resulted in damage to the 2022 World Champion's front left wing.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton passed Verstappen's damaged RB18 on Lap 20.

"We were no doubt flattered by being on the right tyre against Max but we can also look at the fact there were two Ferraris and Sergio on the soft and we clearly had pace on them," said Mercedes Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin. "We're certainly not expecting an easy fight tomorrow; Max has a slight tyre advantage with a second new set of Soft but having both cars on the front row gives us the best possible opportunity to control the race from the front."

Sainz would qualify second with Hamilton third and Verstappen fourth for Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Entering Sunday's Grand Prix, Mercedes is battling behind Ferrari for the hotly contested second position of the 2022 Constructor's Championship.

Despite qualifying second, Carlos Sainz will take a five position grid penalty on Sunday for taking on a new Power Unit for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

"It was a good Sprint today. We had a solid pace, so we were able to overtake a few cars and then I defended well to finish P2," said Sainz. "Tomorrow we can expect a very busy race as I will have to serve the penalty and will start from seventh."

With Sainz relegated to P7 on the grid, the two Silver Arrows of Mercedes will both start on the front row, a first for the 2022 season.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez will start fourth on the grid on Sunday with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starting in the fifth position.

"Starting from P10, my target today was to gain as many positions as possible without taking too many risks," said Leclerc. "That's exactly what I did and with the good pace we showed today, I will push as hard as I can in the race to bring home a strong result for the team."

Perez and Leclerc are currently locked in a tight battle for second place in the F1 2022 Driver Standings.

Lance Stroll of Aston Martin and Fernando Alonzo of Alpine were both penalized for altercations with their respective teammates during Saturday's Sprint.

"We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the Constructors' Championship; an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards," Otmar Szafnauer, Alpine Team Principal. "Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando must do a better job to compliment the fantastic efforts of everyone in the team by avoiding on-track incidents and compromising the entire team's performance."

"Today, both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the Championship." added Szafnauer.

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SPRINT RESULTS
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Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Russell		Mercedes	24	30:11.307
2	Sainz		Ferrari		24	+ 0:03.995
3	Hamilton	Mercedes	24	+ 0:04.492
4	Verstappen	Red Bull	24	+ 0:10.494
5	Perez		Red Bull	24	+ 0:11.855
6	Leclerc		Ferrari		24	+ 0:13.133
7	Norris		McLaren		24	+ 0:25.624
8	Magnussen	Haas		24	+ 0:28.768
9	Vettel		Aston Martin	24	+ 0:30.218
10	Gasly		AlphaTauri	24	+ 0:34.170
11	Ricciardo	McLaren		24	+ 0:39.395
12	Schumacher	Haas		24	+ 0:41.159
13	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	24	+ 0:41.763
14	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	24	+ 0:42.338
15	Alonso		Alpine		24	+ 0:48.985
16	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	24	+ 0:50.306
17	Stroll		Aston Martin	24	+ 0:50.700
18	Ocon		Alpine		24	+ 0:51.756
19	Latifi		Williams	24	+ 1:16.850
20	Albon		Williams	12	Retired

(image provided by Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN)