Lewis Hamilton wins Brazil GP; takes title fight to Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton has won the 2016 Brazil Grand Prix, while teammate Nico Rosberg came in second. This has reduced the latter's championship lead to 12 points, thus taking the title battle to the final race in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Red Bull's Max Verstappen sealed the third spot.

The race started on a drenched Interlagos circuit, which saw its first accident even before the lights turned green. Haas F1's driver Romain Grosjean aquaplaned on his way to the grid, and thus reduced the grid bunch to 21 drivers. The race started behind a safety car, which went off the track on lap 8. Hamilton managed to extend his lead over Rosberg, while Verstappen started showing his wet-track confidence by overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to take the third spot on turn 1.

Things didn't go well for Ferrari, as Sebastian Vettel spun on lap 10, though he was able to control it and re-joined the race. Other drivers weren't that fortunate, as was revealed on lap 13 when Marcus Ericsson crashed his Sauber in the pit walls, thus blocking the pit entry. This again deployed the safety car, while the pit entry was closed so that the Sauber can be cleared off. However, Daniel Ricciardo entered the pits, thus earning a five second penalty. Felipe Massa was also given a similar penalty for overtaking under safety car.

The safety car went off the track on lap 20, starting the real race. However, Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari on the main straight, spinning around and hitting the pit wall while facing incoming traffic. Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon were lucky enough not to hit the crashed Ferrari, though the former's Force India did suffer some damage on the front wing as it hit the Ferrari's debris. FIA immediately red flagged the Brazil GP, sighting treacherous conditions.

The race started again behind a safety car, which headed the pack for eight laps. However, the race was again suspended due to a heavy rain forecast. After the race resumed, Max Verstappen made yet another move, this time over Nico Rosberg to get into P2. He even managed to close gap on the race leading Mercedes, though was called into the pits by Red Bull to swap to intermediates. This gamble backfired as the rain intensified.

Then came yet another crash, when Felipe Massa lost control of his Williams to spin at the start-finish straight and block the pit entry on lap 38. The crash again deployed the safety car, which stayed out till lap 55. Red Bull used this time to switch back Verstappen to full wets on lap 54, thus pushing him back to 14th position. But a fabulous recovery drive saw Verstappen overtake his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, Kvyat, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Nasr, Vettel and Perez, thus sealing the podium finish.

Perez crossed the finish on fourth place, followed by Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo. Felipe Nasr and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10 chart.

With the final race in Abu Dhabi scheduled for November 27, Rosberg just needs to finish third to seal his maiden championship title, even if Hamilton clenches the first spot. The current WDC standings are as follows:
1. Nico Rosberg - 367
2. Lewis Hamilton - 355
3. Daniel Ricciardo -246