Sao Paulo, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Nico Rosberg from Mercedes gave his Formula One title hopes a huge boost by winning Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix and trimming teammate Lewis Hamilton's lead in the world championship standings to 17 points with only one race remaining.
Rosberg held off Hamilton at the finish by 1.4 seconds for his fifth win of the season and the eighth of his F1 career. He also ended Hamilton's streak of five consecutive grand prix victories.
Williams driver and Brazilian Felipe Massa finished third in front of his home crowd, while Jenson Button from McLaren placed fourth and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the four-time F1 world champion and winner of last year's Brazilian GP, was fifth.
Rosberg was dominant at this 2.677-mile (4.3-kilometer) Interlagos circuit throughout the weekend. The German posted the quickest lap in all three practice sessions and then edged Hamilton in qualifying to take the pole for this 71-lap race.
"I'm very happy with the whole weekend," said Rosberg, who won his first grand prix since July 20 in Germany. "I felt comfortable in the car the whole weekend. I was able to attack and control the gap to Lewis in the race. So that worked out great."
With Hamilton only one second behind him, Rosberg pitted from the lead for new tires on lap 27. Hamilton took over the top spot, but on the following lap, he spun off track at turn 4. He recovered and pitted.
Hamilton exited pit lane in second but trailed Rosberg by 7.4 seconds at the time. He attempted to catch Rosberg for the lead and, at one point, was only 0.5 seconds behind.
"It was an amazing race, and I had a great time," Hamilton said. "Obviously, I had a big mistake in the middle of the race. But otherwise, the car was fantastic. The team did an amazing job. It was a great race for Nico, and it's great to see Felipe up here (on the podium)."
Hamilton, with 10 wins this season, has accumulated 334 points to 317 for Rosberg. The Nov. 23 season-ending Abu Dhabi will award double the amount of points, with the race winner collecting 50 points and the second-place finisher receiving 36. If Hamilton finishes second or better there, regardless if Rosberg wins, he will clinch his second F1 world championship. His first title came in 2008, which he clinched by only one point over Massa in the season-finale in Brazil.
"It's everything to play for in the last race," Hamilton said of Abu Dhabi.
Rosberg scored his first victory and podium appearance in the Brazilian GP, while Hamilton has yet to win this race in eight starts.
Mercedes broke two F1 records and matched one in this event. It's the 11th time this season the team has finished 1-2 in a grand prix, topping McLaren's 1988 record. Mercedes also claimed its 30th podium of the year, beating Ferrari's 29 podiums set in 2004.
In addition, Mercedes' 15th win in 2014 matched the season record set by McLaren in '88 and Ferrari in both 2002 and '04.
Massa bounced back from a five-second stop-go penalty for speeding on pit lane during his first stop.
"I am so happy for the race, even though there were so many mistakes," Massa said. "I had that five-second penalty for speeding (on pit lane). I also stopped in the wrong (pit stall) because they were a similar color. But the car was fantastic. I am so happy to have the pace."
Massa's last victory in F1 occurred in the '08 Brazilian GP, driving for Ferrari at the time.
Ferrari teammates Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Nico Hulkenberg from Force India, McLaren's Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas from Williams completed the top-10.
Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull was the first driver to retire when he experienced suspension failure just past the halfway point. Lotus' Romain Grosjean pulled off the track and retired with a handful of laps remaining.
