Hamilton wins in Brazilm takes title battle down to the wire

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton won a stop-start, wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to take his Formula One title battle with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

The Briton’s third win in a row from pole position and first triumph in Brazil left him 12 points behind Rosberg, who finished second, with the pair both on nine victories each for the season.

Rosberg need now only finish third in two weeks’ time to clinch his first title, even if Hamilton wins again.

In a crash-filled thriller that was twice stopped and restarted, with five safety car periods and lengthy delays, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished third with a sensational performance in the wet.

“This is just bad, just stupid,” Sebastian Vettel, one of the drivers who had to take evasive action, yelled over the radio.

“Red flag is what it needs, we need to stop the race. How many people do they want to crash, I nearly crashed into Kimi in the middle of the straight, I couldn’t see anything.”

The race was immediately stopped just after a restart in Lap 20 with Hamilton leading over Rosberg and Verstappen.

After clearing the wreckage from Raikkonen’s harrowing crash, the race was up and running again, albeit behind the safety car, following a 35-minute delay. But after just seven laps and a further 15 minutes the race was suspended once more, with the conditions deemed too dangerous to race.

The controversial decision made by the race director, Charlie Whiting, was greeted by a chorus of boos and “thumbs down” gestures from the Brazilian crowd.

Hamilton was also disappointed with the verdict. “It is not even wet now,” he bemoaned over the team radio. “It is normal wet conditions. I don’t know why we are stopping.”

Rosberg, who will head to Abu Dhabi 12 points clear of Hamilton, added: “It didn’t go my way with the win. Lewis did a great job and it was very difficult at there. I can live with second today.”