In yet another completely expected result, Mercedes finished 1-2 at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix – with Lewis Hamilton winning while his teammate, Nico Rosberg came in second. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished third.
The race was delayed multiple times by rainy weather that created havoc with track conditions that directly or indirectly caused the exit of six racers in the duration of the race. Consequently, many drivers were driving conservatively in the rain. Rosberg was happy to sit behind Hamilton as he drove off to the win, confident that he would still hold a commanding lead in the season points standings entering the season finale at Abu Dhabi. Other drivers were mostly content to retract their aggression with the exception of Verstappen, who drove himself into third place on the last few laps while passing the conservative drivers who were mostly waiting for the race to end.
With the win, Hamilton moves within 12 points of Rosberg for the world championship title – Rosberg’s 367 over Hamilton’s 355 – but if Hamilton wins again at Abu Dhabi, Rosberg only has to finish third or higher to claim his first world championship title.
2016 Brazilian Grand Prix – Interlagos – 71 laps
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 25 3:01:01.335
2 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes 18 +11.455 Sec
3 Max Verstappen – Red Bull 15 +21.481
4 Sergio Perez – Force India 12 +25.346
5 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari 10 +26.334
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso 8 +29.160
7 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India 6 +29.827
8 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull 4 +30.486
9 Felipe Nasr – Sauber 2 +42.620
10 Fernando Alonso – McLaren 1 +44.432
11 Valtteri Bottas – Williams +45.292
12 Esteban Ocon – Manor +45.809
13 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso +51.192
14 Kevin Magnussen – Renault +51.555
15 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor +1:00.498
16 Jenson Button – McLaren +1:21.994
17 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
18 Felipe Massa – Williams
19 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
20 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
21 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
22 Romain Grosjean – Haas