Rosberg accepts the plaudits, and a nice shiny bauble, for coming in first. Hamilton looks delighted to have come second, barely even bothering with the champagne spraying. Massa needs no second invitation to ham it up for an adoring home crowd.
It all means that Rosberg heads to Abu Dhabi 17 points behind Hamilton. The double points awarded for the final race mean that if Rosberg wins in the Middle East, Hamilton will need to come second to win the title. If he finishes third or lower, it’ll be Rosberg’s year. No pressure. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
It may not have been Senna in ‘91, but that was still a heroic effort from Rosberg to hold off Hamilton over the last twenty laps. The British driver will rue that rick on Lap 29, where his tyres failed him as he furiously chased down his team-mate.
Tyres were an issue for pretty much everyone as the track sizzled, with Felipe Massa and Jenson Button showing their experience in testing conditions to come home third and fourth.
Brazilian GP: Final standings
- Rosberg (Mercedes)
- Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Massa (Williams)
- Button (McLaren)
- Vettel (Red Bull)
- Alonso (Ferrari)
- Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Hülkenberg (Force India)
- Magnussen (McLaren)
- Bottas (Williams)
Nico Rosberg wins the Brazilian Grand Prix!
A terrific performance from the Mercedes driver, who started on pole and held off Lewis Hamilton over 71 tense, tortuous laps. This title fight is going to the wire...
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Lap 70: A quick mention for Felipe Massa, who is set fair for a podium place in his home race. Ahead of them, Rosberg and Hamilton hare into the final lap...
Lap 69: The gap is wavering between 0.6 and 0.8 seconds. It looks like Rosberg has done enough to keep Hamilton at bay, and that in itself, on such a big day, is mighty impressive.
Lap 68: Three laps remaining, and Rosberg remains in the lead. Is there time for Hamilton to try and pinch a sixth straight win? Mercedes are staying admirably diplomatic...
Lap 67: Raikkonen contines to fight off Alonso, which suggests that the team won’t stop him, which in turn suggests that Alonso’s days at Ferrari may be numbered. Alonso is visibly frustrated – and you can’t even see his face.
Lap 65: Strange situation further down the pack – Alonso is moving faster than team-mate Raikkonen, but Ferrari aren’t ordering the Finnish driver out of the way. They’re duking it out for 6th place. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean has pulled over – not sure what the issue is there.
Lap 64: The gap between Rosberg and Hamilton has widened a touch – perhaps there’s not enough in the latter’s tyres to force the issue. If it finishes this way, it won’t be great for Hamilton’s pride, but surely he can’t take any risks now.
Lap 62: In a rare slice of action away from the Mercedes pair, Button forces his way past Raikkonen to go fourth; he’ll fight Sebastian Vettel to finish in that position.
Lap 61: Just over 0.6 seconds is the gap with ten laps to go. A reminder that Hamilton leads the overall standings by 24 points; if he wins, the gap will extend to 31. If Rosberg wins, it’ll be 17 points. Perhaps not decisive, but it’s glaringly apparent that both men really, really want to win this.
Lap 60: Lovely stuff from Hamilton, ducking and weaving, filling Rosberg’s wing mirrors at every corner. Rosberg is currently on the defensive, fearing an impending move from his team-mate. The front two are now approaching back markers Maldonado and Bottas.
Lap 58: It’s quite the showdown between the two Mercedes, with 13 laps to go. Massa, in third, is 29 [TWENTY-NINE] seconds behind Hamilton. Here’s how it stands:
1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Massa 4.Hülkenberg 5. Raikkonen
6. Button 7. Vettel 8. Alonso 9. Kvyat 10. Magnussen
Lap 56: Rosberg has led every practice and qualifying session here – but can he win the one that counts? There’s half a second between them, and Hamilton’s rear tyres are cooking, such is his pace. Provided they both finish, the difference between first and second is a mere seven points – the battle we’re seeing suggests there’s, I don’t know, a bit of needle between the two of them?
Lap 53: Remember that faultless double pit stop from McLaren a while back? Well, this time their plans are wrecked by Felipe Massa pulling into Jenson Button’s spot. Not the best omen for poor Jenson, rumoured to be out of the team at the end of the year. He may become to F1 what Milton was to Initech:
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Lap 52: Hamilton pits now, and he’s out alongside Rosberg... the German driver holds him off, but the gap is much less than two seconds now. It’s on until the chequered flag, and possibly beyond, for these two.
Lap 50: Rosberg is in for a lightning pit stop – that should be his last of the race. All indications are that the two leaders want to duke it out, and Mercedes are powerless to stop them happy to oblige.
Meanwhile, this handy chart shows the fresh chaos wrought on the standings by the tyre-popping track heat. Only one retiree so far – Red Bull’s Ricciardo.
Lap 48: Hamilton is now under two seconds behind Rosberg. Still plenty of racing to go... and there’s a few dark clouds on the horizon, too. I’d like to wonder how Hamilton will play this, but it seems a certainty he’ll go after Rosberg. Is that wise? We’ll see.
Lap 46: Rosberg now leads Hamilton by 2.7 seconds – the gap is closing, inch by inch. Here’s the current standings, as Alonso slips beyond Magnussen to move into sixth:
1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Massa 4. Button 5. Vettel
6. Alonso 7. Magnussen 8. Hülkenberg 9. Raikkonen 10. Gutierrez
Lap 43: Hulkenberg steams past Bottas on the straight, forcing the Williams driver wide – and he’s followed by Raikkonen! Bottas drops two spots, and then pits. He returns to the race in 15th, having started in fourth. Not the best.
Lap 41: It looks like a suspension problem that’s forced Ricciardo out – his team had a tinker with the car, as there were no tell-tale signs of brake failure (black dust, not being able to stop etc.). His race is run, though.
At the front of the race, Rosberg still leads, but Hamilton has cut his lead to 3 seconds. Could be a close one, this.
Lap 39: Danny Ricciardo’s race looks to be over – he’s complained that his front left brake is failing. That’s the end of a 15-race streak where the Australian has scored points.
Lap 38: Felipe Massa is up to third in his home race, with Button and Vettel in hot pursuit. The two Mercedes drivers have a healthy lead over everyone else, with Hamilton now 4.5 seconds behind his team-mate, who he definitely doesn’t hate.
Lap 36: More pit lane problems, this time for Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen – the wheel jack slips, adding several seconds to the Finn’s pit time. Clumsy!
Lap 34: Hamilton seems unhappy with team instructions, suggesting that his tyres can only handle one lap of what the commentary team insist on calling ‘Hammer Time’.
Meanwhile, McLaren, who have had a decent day so far, get both drivers pitting on the same lap, without any trouble:
Lap 32: Rosberg leads Hamilton by 5.8 seconds at the end of the lap. Hamilton’s tyres still have plenty of debris flying off them as he pursues his team-mate.
Here’s how it stands:
1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Raikkonen 4. Hülkenberg 5. Massa 6. Button
7. Kvyat 8. Vettel 9. Magnussen 10. Alonso 11. Ricciardo 12. Bottas
Lap 30: Hamilton sounds despondent over the team radio, and well he might. The British driver’s tactic was to keep up pressure on Rosberg before the second stop, but he just overdid it. Plenty of time, though.
Lap 29: Hamilton spins off the track as his brakes lock up – he’s able to continue, but he loses seven seconds on Rosberg. He’ll pit now, suitably embarrassed. Advantage Rosberg!
Lap 27: Indeed, here comes race leader Nico Rosberg, his tyres smouldering – but the stop is quick and effective. You can’t say the same for Valtteri Bottas, who has to have his seatbelt frantically adjusted. It brought to mind a larger gentleman being shoehorned into a ride at Alton Towers. A bad couple of stops for Williams, there.
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Lap 26: Jenson Button is up to fourth; it’s been a good day so far for a man who hasn’t had many this season. Massa pits again and takes his penalty; we should see a clutch of drivers pitting shortly, if they’re aiming for three stops.
Lap 24: Grosjean has well and truly shot his bolt, and both Red Bulls are able to put the hurt on him before he can pit; he may be able to make it round in two stops, however, which could prove handy. The track temperature is dropping – good news for the race, bad news for tyre sales in the São Paolo area.
Lap 23: One man who doesn’t give a fig for track temperature is Romain Grosjean, who is holding a top six place on his original tyres. As I type this, his cavalier spirit comes back to bite him, the tyres giving out and allowing Kevin Magnussen to scoot past.
Lap 21: Here’s how it stands, with almost a third of the race gone, and a year’s supply of tyres worn out already:
1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. Massa 4. Bottas 5. Button 6. Grosjean
7. Magnussen 8. Alonso 9. Vettel 10. Ricciardo 11. Raikkonen 12. Gutierrez
Lap 18: Alonso and Vettel move on Adrian Sutil, overtaking the Force India driver to move into the top ten. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, also has a blister on his tyre, and Vettel is reporting similar problems. With the track temperature still rising, it may need four stops for some drivers to get home today.
Lap 16: Hülkenberg is reporting blisters on his medium tyres. Not so clever now! He remains sandwiched between the Mercedes drivers. Behind them, an interesting battle is developing between Felipe Massa, Valtteri Bottas and Jenson Button. There’s a podium place up for grabs today – probably the small one in the far corner, but still.
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Lap 14: Nico Hülkenberg will have enjoyed his jaunt at the front of the race, but it’s swiftly ended by Rosberg, who cruises past him and back into the lead. It’s safe to assume Hamilton will follow suit soon enough.
Lap 12: The track temperature is over 50 degrees now – the hottest it’s been in over a decade of racing. That means three stops will be necessary for some drivers. Here’s how it stands, as Nico Rosberg sweeps past Daniil Kvyat and into second.
1 Hülkenberg 2 Rosberg 3 Kvyat 4 Hamilton 5 Massa 6 Grosjean
7 Bottas 8 Button 9 Sutil 10 Magnussen 11 Alonso 12 Vettel
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Lap 11: After that flurry of activity, the only news to bring you is that Felipe Massa has picked up a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The home crowd, it’s fair to say, don’t like it.
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Lap 9: Now Hamilton pits, and is this close to overtaking Rosberg as he exits the pit lane – but his team-mate just about holds him off. The Mercedes drivers are 3rd and 4th, behind Hulkenberg and Kvyat – both of whom started on medium tyres, and didn’t need to pit. Clever boys.
Lap 7: It’s pits ahoy in the early stages, with Button, Bottas and Vettel all making tyre changes. At the head of the race, Rosberg and Hamilton have a ten-second cushion back to Kevin Magnussen, currently in third – although the German is about to pit.
How will the Mercedes battle pan out today? John McEnerney has a theory:
Hamilton only needs to roll in behind Rosberg today, but given the considerable, irrefutable beef between the drivers, I’d be surprised if that happened.
Lap 5: Pastor Maldonado has had it with his tyres already, and is pitting early – expect others to follow suit. In fact, here comes Felipe Massa to switch from soft compound to mediums. Kimi Raikkonen has passed Nico Hulkenberg and moves up to 11th.
Lap 3: Vettel’s poor start continues, with team-mate Danny Ricciardo now challenging him for 8th place. Ahead of those two, Fernando Alonso is also struggling for pace. “I wouldn’t want to spend Halloween with him” hoots Martin Brundle, in reference to the dashing Ricciardo. No idea.
Lap 1: A tough start for Sebastian Vettel, who drops from 6th to 8th. No such problems for the leaders, particularly Rosberg, who is off at a ripping pace. Apparently oil on the track at Turn 2 is causing problems, although nobody quite knows where it came from, given the clean start.
And they're off!
The pack reassembles on the uphill start... and they’re away! No great drama through the first three turns, which is good news for the Mercedes cars, who maintain position at the front of the field.
Some good news for Lewis Hamilton: the second-placed driver at the start has won seven out of the last 14 Brazilian Grands Prix. More good news: two second-place finishes in the last two races will deliver the British driver the title. All things considered, Hamilton could be forgiven for easing into the first few corners. All cars, bar Sutil, stuck on the naughty step, are out on the formation lap.
So, we’ll be underway shortly in São Paolo. Here’s the starting grid:
Rosberg, Hamilton; Massa, Bottas; Button, Vettel; Magnussen, Alonso; Ricciardo, Raikkonen; Gutierrez, Hulkenberg; Sutil (starts in pit lane), Grosjean; Vergne, Maldonado; Kvyat, Perez.
There were fears that rain could disrupt today’s race, but McLaren’s Eric Boullier has a one-word response to that idea:
It also appears to be Eric’s birthday today, so well done him.
A pretty big story breaking in the world of F1, over the future of the sport’s structure. It seems Bernie Ecclestone will allow ‘customer cars’ to join the paddock from 2016, potentially marking the end for smaller teams. Paul Weaver has more:
Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One have decided to turn their backs on the smaller teams in the sport as they move towards customer cars in 2016, when the big names will provide all the cars for the grid.
The process will start next season when Red Bull and Ferrari will each run three cars. Then, the following year, newcomers Haas will be Ferrari’s first customers under the new setup as the sport increasingly comes under control of the Big Five: Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams.
It will ultimately mean the end of teams such as Force India, Lotus and Sauber who have had their appeal for a more democratic share of the money generated by the sport thrown back in their faces.
These three teams, who were all prepared to boycott the US Grand Prix in Austin, were told they would be pushed out of Formula One if they went ahead with their threat.
The full story can be found here.
Speaking of Senna, here he is notching his first home Grand Prix win at Interlagos back in 1991, despite the minor irritation of being stuck in sixth gear for the final ten laps.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the latest stop in a Formula One season that won’t go down as one of the sport’s finest. Preparations for the race have been comprehensively undermined – first by an ongoing cash crisis, and now by the double points fiasco which means Lewis Hamilton can’t seal a second world title today.
Marussia and Caterham will both miss today’s race due to financial woes, and the latter’s efforts to raise money through a new-fangled crowdfunding scheme have been met with snorts of derision from Bernie Ecclestone, who has implored teams to live within their means. This, from the man who once owned QPR.
Still, if anywhere can inject a little romance back into Formula One, it’s surely São Paolo, birthplace of Ayrton Senna and scene of many a dramatic denouement through the years – not least in 2008, when Hamilton claimed the tightest of title wins.
The task for the drivers is, as ever, to keep their eyes on the track – and Hamilton has done just that, winning the last five races in a row. Hamilton will start second on the grid today; no prizes for guessing that it’s team-mate/mortal enemy Nico Rosberg who pipped him to pole position. If this tumultuous season is to be remembered for any actual racing, it’ll be down to these two.
