LEWIS Hamilton’s first win in the Brazilian Grand Prix couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Brit claimed his first race victory in the homeland of his hero Ayrton Senna in the conditions the legendary racer had made his own, Hamilton dominating a race held in treacherously wet conditions at Interlagos.
Rosberg finished second with Max Verstappen charging from 11th after a late pit stop to snag the final podium position.
RESULTS: Click here for full results from the Brazilian Grand Prix
VIDEO: Verstappen’s ‘save of the century’ in Interlagos’s fast final corners
Daniel Ricciardo finished eighth after his race was severely hampered by a five-second time penalty incurred for entering the pit lane while it was closed.
With cars crashing all over the soaked circuit, Ricciardo and Red Bull ignored that the pit lane was closed due to the stricken Sauber of Marcus Ericsson blocking the pit entrance and made a stop.
Later Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed that the team felt Ricciardo had a puncture, but race officials slapped Ricciardo with the penalty.
Nevertheless, the results of he and his teammate effectively secured second place in the Constructors’ World Championship for Red Bull.
The race start was delayed by 10 minutes due to rain before eventually getting underway behind the Safety Car, a portent for a race that would take over three hours to complete.
The race was red-flagged twice, the first time for a crash on the pit straight by Kimi Raikkonen, the second just a handful of laps later as conditions again worsened. In all, the Safety Car would come out to lead the field five times.
Kimi's crash stops Brazil GP
1:55But it was plain sailing for Hamilton out front.
Verstappen was his only real challenger during the middle stint, but Red Bull’s decision to pit he and Ricciardo for intermediate tyres proved a mistake when more rain forced them in for a switch back to wets.
“I was generally just chilling up front, when it rains it is usually a good day for me,” Hamilton said, who with 52 grand prix victories has now gone past Alain Prost in the all-time list and is second only to Michael Schumacher’s tally of 91.
The victory also cuts Rosberg’s championship lead to 12 points with just the season finale at Abu Dhabi remaining in a fortnight’s time.
Despite the title race going down to the wire, Rosberg seemed happy with what was for him an uneventful day.
“It didn’t go my way today, Lewis did a great job. It was very difficult conditions but I can live with second place.”
Hamilton got away cleanly from the front after the Safety Car went off on Lap 7 while Verstappen quickly got past Raikkonen to put pressure on Rosberg.
But drivers were having trouble even on the wet tyres on the slippery surface, and Vettel spin on Lap 11, while Sauber’s Ericsson aquaplaned and crashed into a barrier on Lap 13, triggering the second Safety Car period.
After the restart on Lap 19, Raikkonen spun and crashed on the front straight, bringing out the red flags. The Finn lost control and his Ferrari hit the wall on the outside and then came back across track and stopped facing the wrong way near the pit wall.
After a 35-minute break the race resumed on Lap 21, again under Safety Car, but the red flag was out again seven laps later because of the persistent rain.
Verstappen, who overtook Rosberg around the outside on the restart, had a major scare when he slid at high speed on Lap 39 but the Dutch teenager managed to right his car. Rosberg also had a half spin which cost him time after Verstappen had pitted for intermediate tyres.
The Safety Car was back out for the final time when Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Williams - in his last home race before retirement - spun and crashed out on Lap 49 near the pit lane entry.
A tearful Massa walked to the paddock holding up the Brazilian flag to the applause of mechanics including from his former team Ferrari.
The return of the rain saw both Red Bulls return to the pits for wet rubber, Verstappen dropping down to 15th.
The switch to wets allowed the teen to slice through the field in the closing stages to snag third.
Relive the race with our live blog below.
