Hamilton wins Brazilian Grand Prix; Abu Dhabi to decide F1 title

Lewis took his 52nd career victory – his first at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace and ninth of the 2016 season so far while Nico completed a seventh Silver Arrows 1-2 of the season in P2. The last race of the season on November 27, 2017 in Abu Dhabi will decide who is the real winner of the 2016 season. Meanwhile, Nico (367) leads the Drivers' Championship by 12 points from Lewis (355) in P2. In the Constructors’ Championship Mercedes AMG Petronas (722) lead Red Bull (446) by 276 points in the Constructors' Championship.

Hamilton’s victory moves him ahead of Alain Prost in the all-time stakes, but also makes him the only man in history to win on 24 different tracks.

For the boys of Force India, they were well within the points as Sergio Perez came in 4^th and Nico Hulkenberg came in 7^th.

The race witnessed two red-flag stoppages and several safety-car periods. Cling in third was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, whose made a valiant late-race charge that got him into the Interlagos podium towards the end of the race.

For Hamilton it was his first victory in the home of hero Ayrton Senna. The race saw some big crashes for the likes of Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Williams’ Felipe Massa.

Perez took fourth place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz equalling his career-best finish in sixth. Hulkenberg was followed by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Felipe Nasr finished ninth for Sauber’s first points of the year, lifting them above Manor at the bottom of the table, while Fernando Alonso completed the top ten for McLaren.

The race began 10 minutes late behind the safety car, thanks to the rain that had been falling all morning. Romain Grosjean crashed his Haas on his initial out-lap to the grid. When the race finally started Hamilton immediately began to open a gap over Rosberg, and Verstappen overtook Raikkonen in Turn 1 and took away third place.

RACE RESULTS

POS        Driver                                    Team    

1              Lewis Hamilton               Mercedes          

2              Nico Rosberg                  Mercedes          

3              Max Verstappen              Red Bull Racing

4              Sergio Perez                   Force India

5              Sebastian Vettel              Ferrari  

6              Carlos Sainz                   Toro Rosso

7              Nico Hulkenberg             Force India

8              Daniel Ricciardo            Red Bull Racing

9              Felipe Nasr                    Sauber

10           Fernando Alonso             Mclaren Honda 71          

11           Valtteri Bottas                   Williams

12           Esteban Ocon                    MRT Mercedes

13           Daniil Kvyat                         Toro Rosso

14           Kevin Magnussen            Renault               

15           Pascal Wehrlein                MRT Mercedes

16           Jenson Button                   Mclaren Honda

NC          Esteban Gutierrez             Haas

NC          Felipe Massa                   Williams

NC          Jolyon Palmer                  Renault               

NC          Kimi Räikkönen               Ferrari  

NC          Marcus Ericsson             Sauber                  DNF      

NC          Romain Grosjean             Haas                      DNS      

Ricciardo received a 5-second penalty for entering the pit lane when the entry was closed. Massa received a 5-second penalty for overtaking before the safety car line.