Mercedes expects “very hardcore” Red Bull Brazilian GP battle if track is warmer

George Russell won the short race after passing Max Verstappen, who struggled with his medium tyres compared to the Briton’s softs.

Russell and Lewis Hamilton will start from the front row on Sunday, with Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez immediately behind.

Although Mercedes showed great pace in the sprint, trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin cautioned that potentially warmer conditions could favour the Milton Keynes-based team in the grand prix…