INTERNATIONAL: Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points with three races remaining.

Verstappen finished second with Valtteri Bottas third for Mercedes on an astonishing, controversial and roller-coaster weekend in Brazil that will go down as one of Hamilton's greatest and most satisfying drives.

Second placer, Max Verstappen says, "Yeah, I mean we tried everything we could today of course. I think it was a good battle but of course in the end we just miss a little bit of pace but we gave it all today and it was a lot of fun."

Third placer, Valtteri Bottas says, "The pace was actually quite okay. I thought we could've done one stop quite easily but we decided to do two stops but, yeah, I'm glad we could get more points than Red Bull."

The Briton was fastest in Friday qualifying at Interlagos for Saturday's sprint that set Sunday's grid, and then demoted to the back of the field after his car's rear wing failed a technical inspection. He went from 20th to fifth on Saturday, dropping back to 10th on Sunday's grid after an engine penalty but hungry for much more.

The rest was history as the 36-year-old took his third win in Brazil and set a record for victory in Brazil from the lowest grid position, beating Italian Giancarlo Fisichella's 2003 win from eighth.

Winner Lewis Hamilton says, "But from last on the grid and then another five-place penalty was, I think the hardest weekend I've had but my dad said it reminded me of 2004 when I was in Formula 3 in Bahrain and I started last and I finished tenth and then I finished first so, yeah, this one's for my dad."

The win was Hamilton's sixth of the season and record-extending 101st of his career. Red Bull's Sergio Perez finished fourth, pitting on the penultimate lap for fresh tyres to set the fastest lap and deny Hamilton a bonus point.

^{PHOTO: HIGHLIGHTS FROM F1 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX, SOUNDBITES FROM TOP THREE FINISHERS}