After two red flag stoppages and
several safety car periods, it was Lewis Hamilton who rode out the Sao Paulo
storm to win Formula 1 Grande Premio de Brazil 2016 from Mercedes team mate
Nico Rosberg, thus taking their championship battle down to the wire in Abu
Dhabi. The other star was Red Bull Max Verstappen, whose stunning late race
charge hauled him onto the Interlagos podium in the dying laps.
Hamilton’s first victory in the
home of hero Ayrton Senna came after he led all the way at a sodden Autodromo
Jose Carlos Pace in a race which was punctuated by big crashes for the likes of
Sauber Marcus Ericsson, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Williams’ Felipe Massa -
and which witnessed some amazing racing in its closing stages, when conditions
finally became truly drivable.
Force India’s Sergio Perez took
fourth place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, with Toro Rosso Carlos Sainz equaling
his career-best finish in sixth. Nico Hulkenberg was seventh in the second
Force India, followed by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Felipe Nasr finished
ninth for Sauber first points of the year, lifting them above Manor at the
bottom of the table, while Fernando Alonso completed the top ten for McLaren.
While Hamilton had to fight only
the conditions for the bulk of the race, points leader Rosberg was at one stage
overtaken by Verstappen, survived a near-spin in the very slippery final corner
and his distant second place was enough to take him to the showdown in Abu
Dhabi with a 12-point lead and the need if necessary just to follow Hamilton
home again if the Silver Arrows continue their one-two domination. Besides
Hamilton, Rosberg was upstaged by superb fighting performances by Verstappen,
Nasr, Alonso and Manor’s Esteban Ocon.
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