Rosberg beats Hamilton in a Brazil one-two
Nico Rosberg put in a greatly controlled drive to win at Interlagos from Lewis Hamilton. It’s back-to-back wins for Nico at Brazil and in the championship, and his fifth win of the year that secures him the second place in the standings.
“It was a great weekend for me here," said Nico from the podium. "Everything relative with what happened in Paris, but still very happy. I was able to control it and never give him a chance. I have been working hard all year."
Lewis, meanwhile, commented he "had good pace" but he just couldn’t make the overtake here. "I just killed my tyres. It’s such a shame - it’s a great track, but you can’t get close enough to fight.
"I’m here to race, and when you both have to do the same order, it’s kind of set from the beginning. I think that’s what people want to see, but today it was relatively boring following in the tow. Nico has been driving fantastically well."
After both Mercedes came again Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. He’s been in the podium for the 13th time this year (9th podium with Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel), and made the most he could today.
"I think it was a good race for us. I was hoping we could do something at the start, but it wasn’t possible. They were a bit quicker, but we were probably a bit closer than other years."
Kimi Raikkonen was another positive for the Scuderia, as he bounces back from retirements to finish without an incident for the first time since Japan.
And following the Iceman was fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas on fifth place, with Nico Hulkenberg sixth, Daniil Kvyat seventh, home hero Felipe Massa eight, Romain Grosjean ninth and a superb Max Verstappen tenth.
Those results mean Williams retain P3 in the championship, Red Bull secure P4, and Force India will finish P5, their highest ever result in Formula 1 — congrats to the team.
For McLaren it was a double finish, with Jenson Button 15th and Fernando Alonso 16th, in what Jenson said was actually fun, and Fernando pointed out to finish the race was the "first priority".
Lastly, the ambiance at the track was absolutely amazing, seemed like a football match, with fans cheering on Nasr and Massa all the way, chanting ’Senna, Senna’ and overall making it very special.