A day after capturing his fifth consecutive pole position, Mercedes Nico Rosberg raced to his fifth victory of the season, and in doing so secured second place in the drivers’ standings for the second year in a row.
The German is the seventh driver to score back-to-back wins in Brazil (and the first since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2005), and now has 13 wins to his name - the same number as double world champion Alberto Ascari and Scottish racer David Coulthard. Only Stirling Moss, with 16 Grand Prix victories, has triumphed more times without winning the drivers’ crown.
Incidentally, Brazil was Rosberg’s 184th race start, which means he has passed Nick Heidfeld to become the second most experienced German driver in F1 history. Only Michael Schumacher, with 306 starts, has raced in more Grands Prix.
Of course, Rosberg’s victory means that Lewis Hamilton has now gone nine races without winning at Interlagos, although the Briton’s second place finish did ensure Mercedes of their 11th one-two finish of the season, which ties their all-time record from last year. Can the Silver Arrows establish a new record in Abu Dhabi?
Along with capturing his third Brazilian podium finish, Hamilton also secured his seventh fastest lap of the season, meaning he has won the DHL fastest lap trophy for the second year in a row.
Elsewhere, a solid fifth place finish for Valtteri Bottas ensured Williams will finish third in the constructors’ standings for the second year in a row, while Nico Hulkenberg’s sixth place - equalling his best result of the season from Austria - helped Force India secure fifth in the standings, which is their best ever result under Vijay Mallya’s stewardship.
Further back a battling drive to tenth place (which became ninth when Felipe Massa was excluded from the results) enabled Max Verstappen to extend his point-scoring streak to six races, which is not only the longest such run of any driver on the grid, but also the longest in Toro Rosso history, breaking the record he shared with Sebastian Vettel.
Can the rookie keep up his excellent run at the final race of the season at Yas Marina in two weeks’ time? We shall see...
(source: f1.com)
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