This Sunday the Brazilian Grand Prix could finally decide the Formula 1 drivers’ championship. The race, held in Sao Paulo, could be the crowning moment for Mercedes’ German driver Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg reaches the penultimate race of the year with 349 points, followed by his teammate and fiercest rival, Briton Lewis Hamilton who trails the German by 19 points. A win by Rosberg or a combination of a number of results would clinch him the drivers’ title with one race to go.
The good news for Rosberg is that he has won at the Interlagos circuit the last two years while Hamilton has never won there. Hamilton’s bets performances there were also in the last two years when he finished second to his teammate. Curiously, despite his rough times in Brazil, the Briton conquered there his 2008 title when he finished the race in fifth place.
Hamilton has publicly acknowledged before that it would be a dream come true to win in the country of his idol, the late Ayrton Senna. If he achieves that, he would postpone Rosberg’s title celebration until the race in Abu Dhabi.
Rosberg and Hamilton will also have to watch for other drivers that will try to ruin their championship battle by winning at the iconic track. Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel are the main candidates to accomplish something that so far has only happened twice this season: a driver not named Rosberg or Hamilton winning a race.
This only happened on May 15 when Verstappen won in Spain and on October 2 when Daniel Ricciardo won in Malaysia.
The race at Interlagos will also mark the last time Williams’ Brazilian driver Felipe Massa will race in front of his home fans. Massa, who has been in the sport for fourteen seasons, announced recently that he would retire at the end of the year.
