Was Hamilton or Verstappen the hero of Brazil?

The plaudits go to Max Verstappen while Lewis Hamilton wins a chaotic rain-hit race in Brazil to set up a showdown with Nico Rosberg in Abu Dhabi in Formula One’s final race of the season.

Rosberg thanked his team for giving him the best strategy to achieve a strong result on Sunday, and confirmed he is now looking ahead to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where he will be looking to take victory and seal the drivers’ championship.

After his third straight win on Sunday he has reduced Rosberg’s championship lead to 12 points.

“I was generally just chilling up front”, said Hamilton, who led from pole to flag.

“I’m going to try and get Lewis into turn one, and that’s the plan”, Rosberg said. Nico has finished every single race this year apart from Barcelona which neither of us finished.

The German is neck and neck with Hamilton on nine race wins this season, but still has a reasonably comfortable margin going into the curtain closer on November 27. This is the race I have been dreaming of winning since I was very, very young. “I knew the guy was good but he proved it again to everybody”.

“This was my 31st win with the team, which is insane and I’m grateful these guys have given me a great opportunity”.

Hamilton lamented the mechanical issues that he believes have cost him another world title before suggesting Rosberg, while at his own peak, has nothing on the Briton.

Verstappen’s main rival for driver of the day had to be Bernd Maylander, the German threading the safety auto around the anti-clockwise circuit on one of the busiest afternoons of his extensive career.

Needing a win to secure his first title, Nico Rosberg finished second, more than 11 seconds behind his Mercedes teammate.

The rain sodden track and multiple stoppages threatened the outcome at different stages of the day but in as far as the race being a particularly hard afternoons work, Hamilton said he’d had greater challenges. “It’s on a track that I’ve struggled at so I’m really happy to be up on top”.

Race-day rain is usually an unwanted arrival for a polesitter, but Hamilton admitted after qualifying his title predicament was such – he trails Rosberg by 19 points with two races to go – that it would not be unwelcome on this occasion.