RESULT: Vettel triumphs in Brazilian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel took advantage of a blistering start to edge out Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and claim victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

In the explosive opening exchanges Vettel flew off the grid and edged ahead of Bottas to take the lead, one which he build on over the opening laps of the race, before Bottas took the decision to pit, one which Vettel followed in turn.

It led to a dramatic moment as Bottas crossed the start line parallel to Vettel exiting the pits, with the German edging out just ahead of the Mercedes, to regain the lead that he did not relinquish for the rest of the race.

Bottas will be disappointed to have finished second having finished qualifying so strongly on Saturday, and he has now handed Vettel the ascendency in the race to finish second, going into the final Grand Prix at Abu Dhabi in two weeks time.

Elsewhere on the opening lap Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne came together, with only the former able to continue the race. Esteban Ocon's run of consecutive GP finishes also came to an end, his collision with Sebastien Grosjean spinning him out and although Grosjean continued, he did so accruing a heavy time penalty.

Despite starting from the pitlane, Hamilton enjoyed an astonishing performance, cutting his way through the field with precision and making his way into the points in 10th position after just eight laps of the circuit - four of which were with the safety car.

He then proceeded to hunt down Max Verstappen - frustrated by his own car throughout, saying that the front tyres were 'like rocks' - and Kim Raikkonen as he launched a bid to reach the podium, unthinkable before the race begun.

Hamilton swept past the Dutchman with ten laps to go but he couldn't hunt down Raikkonen in the laps that remained, meaning that he just mised out on a podium spot and gave Ferrari an excellent weekend.

Verstappen was able to keep control of his car in difficult conditions to claim fifth ahead of team-mate Ricciardo, while home hero Felipe Massa, racing in his penultamate Grand Prix, was able to hold off the advances of Fernando Alonso to claim seventh.