MOTORSPORT: Grand Prix driving to the max

Formula 1's drivers' world championship tussle between Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will go to the wire in Abu Dhabi in a fortnight after an amazing Brazilian Grand Prix today, but 19-year-old Max Verstappen is already No.1 in the eyes of the fans.

Verstappen's heroics in stormy Sao Paulo, where drivers had next to no visibility in almost continuous rain and spray, are drawing comparisons with the late rain-master Ayrton Senna.

The Dutch teenager found grip on the Interlagos circuit where other drivers dared not venture and, in finishing third behind Hamilton and Rosberg, made up 11 places in the 17 laps after his fifth and final pitstop – three more than the Merc men made.

In doing so he became the youngest driver to clock the fastest lap of a grand prix.

Eight times this season fans have voted him Driver of the Day, while none of his rivals have been accorded that honour more than twice.

Verstappen overshadowed Red Bull Racing teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who finished eighth – although only 9 seconds behind him – after a frustrating race in which his helmet visor kept fogging up.

Ricciardo said that "held me back" and that his car had been "a lot better than eighth".

The race started 10 minutes late, with the safety car heading the field for the first of five times in the day. There were three big crashes – by Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Williams' Felipe Massa in his last start in front of his home crowd. And there were two long interruptions – of 35 and 27 minutes – because of the atrocious conditions, although the Interlagos fans booed the second red flag when many of the drivers wanted to go racing.

It all took more than three hours to conclude – almost as long as the previous two Brazilian GPs combined (both of which were Mercedes 1-2s, although with Rosberg heading home Hamilton).

Hamilton's latest victory – his ninth this season (the same number as Rosberg) and his third in a row – was the 52nd of his career, putting him ahead of Alain Prost and behind only Michael Schumacher's 91.

Hamilton had waited 10 years to win for the first time at the home circuit of his hero Senna, but said it had been "a very easy race ... pretty straightforward", despite conditions that threatened to permanently halt it.

"I was generally just chilling up front," Hamilton said. "No mistakes, no issues, no spins."

He narrowed Rosberg's championship lead from 19 to 12 points, but even if Hamilton wins again in Abu Dhabi on November 27 the Monaco-based German, son of Finland's 1982 world champion, will only need third place to clinch the title and deny the Brit a fourth crown.

Red Bull gambled by twice pitting both its drivers to switch from wet-weather tyres to intermediates, but the strategy backfired in the persistent rain and probably cost Verstappen second place.

Nonetheless, third "felt like a victory" to him – "almost as beautiful as my race in Barcelona", where he won on his Red Bull debut in May after his promotion from the energy drink company's junior Toro Rosso team.

The teenager said, too modestly, that he "seemed to find a bit more grip out there", although he had one "massive moment" and was "really lucky to keep it out of the guard rail".

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was again unhappy with Verstappen's aggression.

However, Red Bull principal Christian Horner said Verstappen's last 15 laps had been "something special" and his and Ricciardo's results had sealed the team's second place in the constructors' championship behind Mercedes but ahead of Ferrari.

Ricciardo is third in the drivers' championship with 246 points to Rosberg's 367 and Hamilton's 355, while Verstappen is fifth on 192 – between Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on 197 and Kimi Raikkonen 178.

The Red Bull drivers are the only competitors other than the Merc duo to have won GPs this year (one each). Ricciardo has had eight podiums this season and Verstappen seven.

After starting the year with five straight podiums, Ferrari has not had a top-three finish in the past six races – after Vettel's relegation in Mexico and stewards rejecting its appeal, saying the "new elements" it claimed to have unearthed was information transparent during that GP.

Brazil was McLaren's 800th GP – second only to Ferrari – but it has now gone four years without a win and long-time chief Ron Dennis is being squeezed out by disgruntled fellow shareholders.

While 15-season veteran Felipe Massa was overcome with emotion at crashing out of his last home race, fellow Brazilian Felipe Nasr's ninth place gave the Sauber team its first championship points in more than a year.

That put Sauber ahead of the Manor team and, provided they remain 10th and 11th in the constructors' championship in that order after Abu Dhabi, could be worth US$16 million (A$21.25 million) in prize money to the Swiss-based outfit that has recently received an injection of Scandinavian funding.

It may also ensure that Nasr continues to bring his reputed US$30 million-a-year sponsorship from a Brazilian bank to Sauber rather than Manor next season.