Rosberg Wins

The event was overshadowed by the terrorist attacks in Paris over the weekend, but racing fans in Sao Paolo did their best to enjoy the penultimate Formula 1 event of the season while paying their respect to the victims in the French capital.

Mercedes Nico Rosberg started in pole position ahead of teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton, with the Englishman having wrapped up the drivers' championship two races ago. And the German had a perfect start, holding off Hamilton who had picked up his slipstream.

Rosberg had been accused of yielding to Hamilton too easily this season, but he showed his mettle in Brazil. After 15 laps, the German had opened up an advantage of nearly two seconds. Hamilton subsequently made up ground, but at a cost to his tires, which began to deteriorate.

After the two drivers pitted, Rosberg had a three-second advantage on lap 39. There were none of mistakes that dogged the German this season, and although Hamilton was able to shave his lead, Rosberg remained in control. He took the checkered flag around six second ahead of his teammate.

Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari came in third, and his teammate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth.

It was Rosberg's second straight Formula 1 win and his fifth victory of the season, but he kept things in perspective.

"It was a great weekend for me here, but of course everything is relative because of what happened in Paris," the German said.

The 25 points Rosberg earned for a win mean that he will finish second in the drivers' championship for the second year running.

"I had good pace you just can't overtake here," Hamilton said. "I killed my tires and it is a shame because it is such a great track but you can't get close enough to race."

The Formula 1 season concludes with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 29.