Nico Rosberg on Sunday won the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix for the second year in a row and denied Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton a first success in the homeland of his late hero Ayrton Senna.
Triple champion Hamilton, who has now failed in nine attempts to win in Brazil, finished 7.756 seconds behind for Mercedes’ 11th one-two in 18 races so far this season.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished third for his 79th podium finish.
Photo: EPA
“Yeah guys, awesome,” Rosberg said after controlling the race from pole to checkered flag.
He and Hamilton had been separated by less than a second for 10 laps after the first pit stop, but the gap then widened.
“It was a good challenge from Lewis, but I was able to control the pace,” added the German, who refrained from too much exuberance on the podium out of respect for the victims of Friday’s Paris attacks.
“We saw Lewis dropping off a lot with degradation and that confirmed it was important to take care of the tires,” Rosberg said.
The victory in the season’s penultimate race was Rosberg’s fifth of the year, second in a row and 13th of his career, and secured the German second place in a championship already won by his British rival.
“I had good pace, it’s just you can’t overtake here,” said Hamilton, who started on the front row alongside Rosberg, but could not find a way past his teammate into the opening corner despite trying hard.
“I just killed my tires. It’s such a great track, but you can’t get close enough to race,” he added after his planned two stops turned into three.
The Briton, who clinched his third championship in Texas last month, has spoken much of his wish to emulate triple champion Senna — who took eight attempts to win his home race — but he will have to wait another year.
The harder he tried, the more he suffered from tire degradation, even if he at least set the fastest lap as consolation.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, with compatriot Valtteri Bottas fifth for Williams and securing that team’s third place overall for the second year in a row.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was sixth, while Red Bull’s Russian Daniil Kvyat seventh.
Brazilian Felipe Massa, who took his last grand prix win at Interlagos in 2008, finished eighth for Williams, but was then excluded by stewards for having an overheated rear tire before the start.
That lifted France’s Romain Grosjean up a place, with Max Verstappen ninth for Toro Rosso after some standout overtaking moves by the 18-year-old Dutch rookie in a race short on excitement.
Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado was 10th for Lotus, despite collecting a five-second penalty for banging into Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson as he tried to pass on lap 32 of 71.
Verstappen’s teammate Carlos Sainz started from the pit lane after his car broke down on the way to the grid and he then retired on the opening lap.
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