Nico Rosberg wins his fifth race of the season dominantly from start to finish at the Brazilian GP

In the Brazilian GP today, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed his twenty-first of his career ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in a race which saw him dominate from start to finish

After qualifying yesterday, it was announced that Sauber driver Felipe Nasr has received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Felipe Massa's Williams in qualifying.

The incident occurred at the end of Q1 at Interlagos, when Nasr was moving slowly on the racing line approaching the Mergulho corner. Massa had to slew off the road to avoid the Sauber as he came upon it on a flying lap. He had time to complete another quick lap afterwards and both Brazilians made it into Q2.

Nasr qualified 11th for the Brazilian GP; which was set to become 10th when Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull took its engine change penalty. In addition to the grid penalty, Nasr was also given two penalty points on his licence, his first of the season.

However before the race even started Carlos Sainz Jr has stopped on his way to the circuit and will have to start from the pit lane if the marshals can get the car back in time.

The start of the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton got a great start but Nico Rosberg leads his team mate into Turn 1. Nico Hulkenberg has had an awful start and has lost places. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas had a cracking start after suffering a grid penalty after qualifying yesterday.

But Fernando Alonso had to go wide at Turn 5 in order to avoid his team mate Jenson Button. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr did manage to get running but has stopped on the track with suspected power issues and is now out of the race officially.

Lap 2 saw Rosberg leading his team mate by 0.6 seconds and starts to slowly gain a rhythm in the race as at the end of Lap 4, Daniel Ricciardo pits for new tyres. In the early stages of the race, there is a battle between local driver Felipe Nasr and Romain Grosjean for eleventh place and at the start of Lap 5 into Turn 1, Grosjean passes Nasr for eleventh place. But there is also a battle for ninth place between Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen; with Verstappen putting pressure on the Mexican driver all the time.

We also saw a huge battle for eighth place between Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean on the track; with all the drivers starting to quickly gain on each other on the circuit as well. By Lap 9, we saw on the track that Daniel Ricciardo trying to quickly pass the Manor of Will Stevens but couldn’t do so. But at the end of the lap, Ricciardo was able to pass Stevens on the home straight and could now start chasing the rest of the grid.

While Ricciardo was passing Stevens on the track, Nico Hulkenberg decided to pit for new tyres and maybe deciding to go for the undercut and stopping three times. This then set off a chain reaction, with Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez deciding to pit as well. Within a space of a lap, Hulkenberg’s gamble appears to have paid off and is now ahead of Kvyat on the track.

By Lap 13, Rosberg still leads Hamilton by 1.5 seconds and has been told by his team to box at the end of this lap as does Sebastian Vettel as Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas battle for seventh on the track and Hamilton leads the race on Lap 14 as Bottas passes Maldonado on track for sixth place.

Rosberg regains the lead on Lap 15 of the race ahead of his team mate Hamilton; with the gap being significantly reduced after their pit stops. There was a battle for tenth between Perez, Verstappen and Grosjean for tenth place during the first half of the race; with Verstappen gaining on Perez all the time. At the start of Lap 18, Hulkenberg in a good move on the home straight is able to pass Maldonado for sixth place in the race.

Lap 19 saw Hamilton gaining more on his team mate with the gap being 0.8 seconds at this point in the race. Three laps later, Rosberg could be suffering with his brakes as he appears not able to shake off his team mate as Massa passes Maldonado for eighth place as Maldonado has not yet pitted for new tyres.

In a spectacular move into Turn 1 on the start of Lap 24, Felipe Nasr outbrakes Jenson Button on the inside to gain track position; with both drivers not touching each other in the process. By Lap 25, Hamilton is now starting to try and mount a challenge to pass his team mate even though he stated on the team radio “It is impossible to follow him.”

On Lap 32 of the race, Rosberg is still leading Hamilton by 3. 5 seconds. Heading into Turn 1, Max Verstappen tries to pass Sergio Perez for position in a brave move. Perez defends his position as you would expect him to do so but Verstappen on the outside into Turn 2 gets ahead of Perez and is now in ninth place. But Grosjean is able to pass Perez and now loses two places in two corners.

Rosberg then pits on Lap 34 for new tyres and hands the lead to his team mate Hamilton who was told “It's Hammer Time” and will also be pitting at the end of the lap. But after his stop Rosberg regains the lead ahead of Raikkonen; with Hamilton rejoining the race in third place. While heading into Turn 1 on the same lap, Maldonado tries to pass Ericsson for position but then makes contact with the Swede and pulls him into a spin which will now be investigated by the stewards.

In the second half of the race, Hamilton is then able to pass Raikkonen for second place in the race at this point. There was also a battle between Nasr and Maldonado for ninth place on the circuit which Maldonado is able to pass the local driver at Turn 1 the next lap.

Lap 40 saw the stewards announcing that Pastor Maldonado will receive a five second time penalty for causing an incident with Marcus Ericsson a few laps earlier. The battle between Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Massa for ninth place took our attention; with the local driver using the energy of his home crowd to help him get past the Russian driver; even though Kvyat was able to pass Maldonado into Turn 1 on Lap 43.

Sergio Perez by Lap 44 appeared to struggle with issues on his Force India after being in the points in the first half of the race and saw himself in a battle for twelfth place with Daniel Ricciardo as Perez’s team mate found himself in a battle with the other Red Bull driver for sixth place.

Lap 49 saw Hamilton taking the lead of the race as Rosberg pitted for his final set of tyres as Ricciardo finally after following Perez for a long time passes him on the track for eleventh place. At the end of Lap 49, Hamilton makes his final pit stop of the race and hands the lead of the race back to his team mate.

In the latter stages of the race, Hamilton is starting to set a blistering pace and is trying to catch his team mate Rosberg in order to get DRS which could help him make a move for the lead of the race. Further down the grid, the Nasr and Maldonado battle continues for ninth place; with Maldonado slowly gaining on the Brazilian driver and on Lap 56, Maldonado tries to pass Nasr for position into Turns 1 and 2. But as they both head into Turns 4 and 5, Nasr defends his position beautifully and maintains his position until Maldonado eventually passes him on Lap 57.

But Felipe Nasr in the closing stages of the race appeared to be going backwards and loses another place to Verstappen on Lap 59 of the race, Perez on Lap 60 and Ricciardo on Lap 61; even though Nasr has defended where he needed to and tried his best in front of his home crowd.

In the closing laps of the race, Hamilton is still trying to catch Rosberg for the lead of the race as everyone up to fifth place in the race has been lapped by the race leader as Kvyat is still chasing Hulkenberg for sixth position further down the grid. But Maldonado yet again is under pressure from Verstappen for the final point of the race; with Verstappen able to pass him as well.

But it was Nico Rosberg who claimed his fifth win of the season at Brazilian GP with ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton in second place who was 0.078 seconds behind him but was ahead of Sebastian Vettel who finished in third place who was 0.522 seconds behind the Mercedes of Rosberg.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the race in fourth place ahead of Valtteri Bottas in fifth place who now has secured third place for Williams in the Constructors Championship for the second year in a row (which is fantastic!) ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in sixth place and matches his best result of the season so far ahead and also fifth place for the Force India team in the Constructors Championship ahead of Daniil Kvyat in seventh place. Local driver Felipe Massa ended the race in eighth place (even though he will have to see the stewards regarding his tyre blanket temperatures at the start of the race ahead of Romain Grosjean in ninth place and Max Verstappen who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Pastor Maldonado finished the race in eleventh place one lap down on Rosberg but was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in twelfth place, Sergio Perez in thirteenth place, Felipe Nasr in fourteenth place and Jenson Button in fifteenth place. As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Fernando Alonso finished in sixteenth place ahead of Marcus Ericsson who was two laps down in seventeenth place ahead of the two Manor drivers of Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi who were both four laps down on the leaders. Carlos Sainz Jr did not finish the race.

The classification for the Brazilian GP is as follows:-

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.31.09.090
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 7.756s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 14.244s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 47.543s
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1 lap
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1 lap
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 1 lap
8. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1 lap
9. Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Mercedes, 1 lap
10. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1 lap
11. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 1 lap
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1 lap
13. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1 lap
14. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1 lap
15. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda 1 lap
16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1 lap
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2 laps
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 4 laps
19. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 4 laps
20. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, Not Classified

Lewis Hamilton has won the Drivers' Championship with 363 points, Rosberg is second with 297 points, Vettel is third with 266 points, Bottas is fourth with 136 points, Raikkonen is fifth with 135 points, Massa is sixth with 121 points, Kvyat is seventh with 94 points, Ricciardo is eighth with 84 points, Perez is ninth with 68 points and Hulkenberg is tenth with 52 points.

Mercedes have won the Constructors Championship with 660 points, Ferrari is second with 401 points, Williams are third with 257 points, Red Bull are fourth with 178 points, Force India are fifth with 120 points, Lotus are sixth with 73 points, Toro Rosso are seventh with 66 points, Sauber are eighth with 36 points and McLaren-Honda are ninth with 27 points.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa

Circuit Lines by Graham and Leigh