Sebastian Vettel wins Brazilian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton's charge falls short in fourth-place finish

Vettel took the lead at the very first corner from Valtteri Bottas, while recently-crowned champion Hamilton charged through the field from last to challenge for a podium finish

Sebastian Vettel celebrates winning the Brazilian Grand Prix (Getty)

It was, Sebastian Vettel admitted, a big relief when he steered his Ferrari to his fifth victory of the season, but his first since the Hungarian GP back in August. That gap, more than anything else, allied to the German’s flawless performance this day, highlighted just how much Ferrari had lost after the wheels had fallen off their wagon through myriad incidents since Vettel had gone into the summer break well ahead of the man who eventually beat him to the championship crown.

That man, of course, was Lewis Hamilton, who had to start from the pit lane after his Mercedes had been rebuilt after the first-lap crash in qualifying yesterday which prevented him from fighting for pole position.

That had fallen to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, but after Vettel beat him away at the start, the Finn had to spend the afternoon fighting a rearguard action, trying to keep the pressure on the leading Ferrari while fending off the other one driven by Kimi Raikkonen. This he did honourably, at one stage reducing the gap between them to less than two seconds, but Vettel was always in control and won by 2.7s.

“I had a very good getaway but then I had a bit of wheelspin and thought I was going to lose out after all to Valtteri,” Vettel said. “But he was struggling even more so I had the chance to squeeze down the inside going into the first corner, which surprised him. After the safety car had gone back in [it was deployed for the first five laps after a first-lap incident involving Daniel Ricciardo, Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen], the remaining 65 laps were flat out, trying to maintain the pace while controlling the tyres. We were all of us doing similar lap times, so there was no room for mistakes. It’s been a tough few weeks for us, so I’m really happy for all guys in the team back at Maranello, and it’s nice to get the win at last and have both cars up here.”

Bottas put a brave face on things, but the defeat means that Vettel will almost certainly hold on to the runner-up position with only the Abu Dhabi race left in a fortnight’s time. Vettel has 302 points to Bottas’s 280, which means Bottas must win in the Middle East with Vettel unplaced, to take the position.

“I started from pole position, so I’m very disappointed not to win the race today. I lost it at the start, and after that we were so evenly matched but I just couldn’t get close enough to try to overtake Sebastian.”

While there was stalemate at the top of the field, with Vettel being chased by Bottas as Raikkonen fended off Red Bull’s Mexican GP winner Max Verstappen, Hamilton provided the race’s main fireworks as he tore through it with a typically gutsy race from the back to put himself into contention for the podium in the closing laps. It was the perfect atonement for the one big error he’s made all year.

Starting on more durable soft-compound tyres rather than the faster supersofts on which his main rivals ran their first stints, he took the lead on the 30th laps as they began their stops to switch to softs, and held it until pitting on lap 43 for his own set of supersofts.

That dropped him back to fifth behind Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen, who had run in that order from the start.

Verstappen could offer little resistance as his soft tyres were fading, and he surrendered fifth place on the 59th lap after Hamilton had decimated his one-time 16.2s advantage, and then a dramatic chase began as Hamilton went after Raikkonen, who was 8.6s ahead.

Vandoorne's stricken McLaren is winched off the track (Getty)

Lap by lap he hauled the Finn in and seemed set to join Vettel and Bottas on the podium. On the 66th lap he was only 4.7s behind Vettel and half a second off Raikkonen, but the Ferrari driver rallied and valiantly held him off as Hamilton locked his brakes a few times. They were 0.8s at the chequered flag, with Vettel 5.4s ahead.

“I had nothing left when I came across the line. I gave it everything,” he said. “I could see Sebastian just there. If only just! But I really messed up yesterday. I was quickest all weekend. It would have been pole to finish. But this made it a lot more enjoyable race.

“It’s tough when you make mistakes. You make it difficult for you and the team. But I was quicker than everyone today! That’s the positive and I take it into the next race. I can’t wait to battle Sebastian at the next race.

“I made a couple changes to the car, but not really a huge amount. I didn’t get a lot of laps. It was different with temperatures. I changed the balance. I had good pace on the long runs on Friday, particularly on the softs. I think I was half a second quicker. I had a different aero package. I had pace. But today I was 110 per cent the whole way.

Vandoorne was left to watch the race after his first-lap accident (Getty)

“It was so much fun. Like when I was kid, with not a great go kart, and started at the back. Obviously I had a good car but I was able to do something special. But my tyres let go right when I got to Kimi. I had nothing left!”

Verstappen made a second stop and set fastest lap on a new set of supersofts as he headed Red Bull team-mate Daniel Riccardo home. Like Hamilton, the Australian had fought up from his lowly grid position and a spin on the first lap after contact with Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen. The McLaren and Haas drivers were instant retirements, and the incident brought out the safety car that Vettel had mentioned.

Felipe Massa delighted the loyal crowd with a strong and emotional run to seventh place after a race-long battle with Fernando Alonso, who was only four-tenths of a second behind by the end, and himself had Sergio Perez’s Force India just a tenth off his tail after one of the race’s best fights.

F1 is getting rather touchy-feely under Liberty Media’s ministrations, and at the end of the podium ceremony the hugely popular little Brazilian - who really is retiring this year after doing so last year only to be called back to Williams when Bottas moved to Mercedes following Nico Rosberg’s sudden retirement – appeared on the podium with former F1 racer Rubens Barrichello to bid them a fond farewell.

Vettel resumed the lead after Hamilton pitted to claim victory (Getty)

The man who had held back the tears here nine years ago when he thought for 38s that he was world champion for 38s only to discover that Hamilton had actually pipped him by a point, did not attempt to stem the flow of tears this time as he paid tribute to his fans.

“I’m really emotional today because of all of you guys,” he said. “Thank you for everything we’ve done together. All the support. There was all the energy I felt today for making the best race I could. To be honest I’m so happy for my race; I did the best with what the car could achieve. Even the people I didn’t work together with, I love you guys, thank you so much.”

In victory, Vettel had a message to send, too.

Lewis Hamilton recovered from a pit lane start to finish in fourth (Getty)

“We’ve done a good job overall and it has been very positive this year,” he said, “because nobody expected Ferrari to be that strong. And still we are here at the end, still in a position to fight for victories, with both cars on the podium. To be fair, we have not been very competitive last year and we made massive progress this year, even if didn’t get the chance that maybe we missed. You have to give credit to the team for what we have achieved. We are getting stronger so hopefully if we carry that into the next few years, we can bring Ferrari back properly.”

Unless, of course, team president Sergio Marchionne makes good on his recent threat to withdraw the team in protest against the engine proposals recently revealed by Liberty and the FIA, of which he does not approve.

Final positions after Race (71 Laps):

1. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 31mins 26.260secs

2. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:31:29.022

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:31:30.860

4. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:31:31.728

5. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:31:59.200

6. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:32:14.951

7. Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:32:35.142

8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:32:35.623

9. Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:32:35.760

10. Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault at 1 Lap

11. Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap

12. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap

13. Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap

14. Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap

15. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 at 2 Laps

16. Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 2 Laps

Not Classified:

17. Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 40 Laps completed

18. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 0 Laps completed

19. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 0 Laps completed

20. Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 0 Laps completed