Lewis Hamilton took his 52nd career victory – his first at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace and ninth of the 2016 season so far. Nico Rosberg completed a seventh Silver Arrows 1-2 of the season in P2.
Nico (367) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 12 points from Lewis (355) in P2.
Lewis Hamilton
I’ve just won my first Brazilian Grand Prix! I remember watching Ayrton win back in 1991 and thinking “one day, that’s what I want to do”. I shared his emotion that day and now I can finally understand how he felt. It’s the 44thGrand Prix here as well, so it’s a really special one for me. To win on Senna’s turn in front of that crowd… it’s a moment I’ll never forget and I genuinely can’t believe it’s finally come. It’s crazy – all these years it’s been so hard to win this race and then today was one of the easiest wins I’ve had.
Of course, in those conditions I could easily have made a mistake at any point. But I was generally very relaxed out there today and felt completely in control. I love driving in the rain. It must come from years of racing around the UK as a kid! It’s all in the mind – keeping your cool, not making mistakes, having great reactions and knowing where to put the car. It was one of those races where I was able to focus purely on driving. That one set of tyres just kept going and going, I didn’t have any problems at all and the car was really fantastic.
I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone back at both factories who have worked so hard to give us such an incredible car
This result is all down to them. Every week we’re making another piece of history and we’ve out-and-out proven that we’re the best team by far, in every area. Our hospitality is the best, our food is the best, our guys in the garage are the best, the guys back in the factory are the best, our cars are the best… it’s so rare to see every area so spot on and I’m proud to be a part of that. I’m glad that it’s come down to the last race. All I can do is focus on being as strong as I have been in these past few races. If I can do that, I’ll know in my heart what I’ve achieved this year.
Nico Rosberg
The conditions were really tricky out there. Up the hill there was heavy aquaplaning and a lot of drivers went off the track. I had a bit of a moment when I spun at one point but luckily this wasn’t at high speed, so I was able to catch the car again. Lewis did a better job today and deserved the win. So I must be happy with P2. Max [Verstappen] also did a good job. We knew that the Red Bull would be very strong in the wet but he drive a great race. Thank you very much to my team for choosing the right strategy and letting me stay out on the full wet tyres. Now I look forward to Abu Dhabi, where I have good memories from last year. I will be going all out for the win there.
