Sao Paulo, Brazil - Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to end Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton's run of five consecutive victories and cut his championship lead to 17 points with one race remaining.
Hamilton took the chequered flag 1.4 seconds behind after setting the fastest lap, with Mercedes breaking Formula One records with 11 one-two finishes and 30 podium placings in a season.
“It was a great weekend,” said Rosberg, who started on pole position after lapping fastest in phase of qualifying at Interlagos.
“The whole weekend I've been feeling comfortable in the car, I was able to attack and control the gap to Lewis in the race so that worked out great.
“There's still all to play for. I just need to keep this going now,” added Rosberg, whose win made up for last weekend when he started on pole in Texas and lost out to Hamilton.
The final race at Abu Dhabi on 23 November will offer double points for the first time, and 50 for the winner, but Hamilton needs only a second-place finish to wrap up his second title.
Hamilton has 334 points to Rosberg's 317.
The team's victory equalled the record of 15 in a season held jointly by Ferrari and McLaren, with Rosberg now on five to his British rival's 10.
BIG MISTAKE
The two Mercedes drivers were in a race of their own on a sunny Sao Paulo afternoon
Hamilton's only scare came on lap 28 as he pushed to gain an advantage when Rosberg pitted, spinning and skidding off at turn four. That cost him seven seconds and a chance to win.
He said later: “I was much quicker up until that point and on that lap I'd gone a second quicker while Nico pitted. I thought I was going to pit at the end of that lap so I used everything of the tyres.
“The next lap I had nothing left.”
After he pitted, the 2008 champion steadily narrowed the gap until the 'Silver Arrows' were just half a second apart. But Rosberg never allowed him to get close enough to make a move.
“It was an amazing race,” said Hamilton, who had hoped to become the first British driver to win six races in a row.
Local hero Felipe Massa returned to the podium in front of a cheering crowd with third place for Williams, 41 seconds behind despite a stop/go penalty for speeding in the pitlane.
WRONG GARAGE
Massa had only himself to blame when he also pulled in to the McLaren pits instead of Williams.
“I'm so happy with the race, not happy with my mistakes today,” he said.
“I stopped in McLaren (garage) because they changed our garage this race and we are a lot more in the middle and McLaren with the similar colour...I thought it was our garage.”
Mercedes-engined cars filled the four top slots, with McLaren's Jenson Button fourth, and Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel fifth.
Ferrari duo Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were sixth and seventh with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg eighth and McLaren's Kevin Magnussen ninth. Valtteri Bottas took the last point for Williams.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, winner of three races this season, retired his Red Bull to end a run of 15 scoring races in a row. The outgoing champions at least ensured they finished runners-up in the standings.
Only nine teams and 18 cars started, with Marussia no longer in business and Caterham in administration. - Reuters
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1hour30m02.555s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes +1.457s
3 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams +41.031
4 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren +48.658
5 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull +51.420
6 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari +1:01.906
7 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari +1:03.730
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India +1:03.934
9 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren +1:10.085
10 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams +1 lap
11 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso +1 lap
12 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus +1 lap
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso +1 lap
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber +1 lap
15 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India +1 lap
16 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber +1 lap
Retirements
Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - 8 laps
Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 32 laps
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,1m13.555s, lap 62
DRIVER STANDINGS
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 334
2 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 317
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 214
4 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - 159
5 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 157
6 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 156
7 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 106
8 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams - 98
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - 80
10 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren - 55
11 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 53
12 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - 47
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - 22
14 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - 8
15 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - 8
16 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - 2
17 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - 2
CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
1 Mercedes - 651
2 Red Bull - 373
3 Williams - 254
4 Ferrari - 210
5 McLaren - 161
6 Force India - 127
7 Toro Rosso - 30
8 Lotus - 10
9 Marussia - 2