Formula 1 2016 results: Lewis Hamilton wins Brazilian Grand Prix, plus full finishing order

Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, a race filled with crashes, safety cars, retirements, and even a couple red flags. The race was stopped multiple times due to heavy rain and poor track conditions, and as a result the entire field was flipped multiple times. The only constant was Hamilton staying ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg, the points leader, could have sealed the Driver’s Championship win by taking this race, but he was unable to secure it. Hamilton now trails by 12 points going into the final race, meaning he needs a win and for Rosberg to finish lower in the pack.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull was incredible throughout the race, carving through the pack in the final laps, taking himself from out of the points all the way to the podium. He absolutely dominated in the wet conditions in the second half of the race, though he was obviously hoping to take out Rosberg and earn second.

The race started behind the safety car due to the wet track conditions. Many racers were on the team radio talking about just how wet and poor the track was, while others, like Carlos Sainz, were eager to get the race started. Eventually, the safety car came in at the end of the seventh lap and Rosberg was caught sleeping, falling back into third place while Hamilton took first and Verstappen slotted in just behind him.

Not long after that, cars started coming in to put on the intermediate tires, but Rosberg came over the radio and said it was far too early. Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari went off the track and spun out on Lap 11, in a dangerous position while facing the wrong way. He eventually got back on track and went into the pit to put on the intermediate tires. At some point in the shuffle, Rosberg got past Verstappen for second place.

Marcus Ericsson of Sauber crashed out and blocked the pit lane entry on Lap 14. Verstappen came in to pit and had to dodge around the Sauber, and then the message came up saying the pit lane is closed. Then Daniel Ricciardo came into the pit lane, and there was some question as to whether the message had come up when he entered the pit.

It’s worth noting Ericsson was on the intermediate tires, as Hamilton came across the team radio to ask. When they replied yes, he said there was way too much water on the track to be on intermediate tires. The safety car came out at that point, with all of the top 10 still on wet tires save for both Red Bulls, who had fit the intermediate tires.

The safety car eventually left on Lap 20 and almost immediately there was a huge crash involving Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. He lost it on the main straight despite using the wet tires and not the intermediates. Raikkonnen almost collected the Red Bull of Ricciardo in the crash, but remarkably, nobody hit him despite all the spray from the crash and the general activity on the track.

Raikkonen was OK, but he was out of the race and the officials eventually called a red flag to stop the race. During the red flag, a five-second time penalty was given to Ricciardo for his pit entry while the pit lane was closed. Things got started again behind the safety car and it was announced that Jolyon Palmer of Renault was out of the race due to damage to the car.

At Lap 29, still under the safety car, the race went to red flag again. Many drivers came over their team radio expressing their displeasure, indicating that the track was clearing up and getting easier to run on. They got going again behind the safety car and then the restart on Lap 31. Verstappen caught Rosberg napping again and took second place in the race.

On Lap 39, Verstappen lost control near the pit entry and almost spun, giving Rosberg a chance to attack him, and Rosberg managed to pull within a second of him before he recovered. Verstappen eventually pits for the intermediate tires and comes back out in fifth, and unfortunately, at Lap 49, Felipe Massa of Williams crashes out of his final Brazilian Grand Prix, as he will be retiring from Formula 1 after this season.

That brought out the safety car once again. When they got started again, things really shifted. Verstappen had to go back to the wets as the track conditions worsened, and Rosberg was safely in second place. Sergio Perez of Force India wound up making his way up to third place, with Sainz of Toro Rosso behind him at Lap 57. Fernando Alonso spun out big time and ended up near the back of the pack, but he righted himself without crashing.

Verstappen started making up places, passing Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat to move up through the pack. He then passed Esteban Ocon and then Felipe Nasr, eventually made his way up into sixth, and was attacking Vettel for fifth. Esteban Gutierrez ended a rough day for Haas by retiring from the race at this point.

On Lap 67, Vettel went wide and Verstappen moved ahead of him, moving in to attack Sainz in fourth and leaving Vettel behind. Verstappen continued his amazing racing at the end and passed Sainz, moving in to attack Perez in third. He made that pass too, finishing on the podium after a brilliant race.

Romain Grosjean of Haas did not start the race as he crashed on his reconnaissance lap.

Below is the full finishing order for Sunday’s race: