Brazilian Grand Prix LIVE: Lewis Hamilton on pole, Sebastian Vettel second; latest updates | F1 | Sport

Hamilton made a fine start from the front of the grid but was being closed by the super-quick Red Bull of Verstappen.

The Dutchman eventually established what looked like an insurmountable lead.

But when he tried to lap Ocon on lap 44, the Force India driver got in his way to send him spinning off the track.

Hamilton zoomed into the lead as Verstappen recovered to stay in second.

While he shaved time off the lead throughout the race, he ran out of laps and the Brit was able to hold on – handing Mercedes the constructors’ championship in the process.

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX AS IT HAPPENED

Hamilton on Verstappen/Ocon collision

“I saw it happen and it wasn’t something I was surprised by. I saw them racing.

“They weren’t racing for the same position. Max was able to keep going.

“Max is a ‘go get ’em’ kind of guy, and every so often, it wipes you.”

Hamilton on Mercedes winning constructors’ title

“These guys have worked so hard over the past six years, it’s been an incredible journey.

“This is what we’ve worked for every single day. I’ve always said it’s such an honour to drive for them. We were a sitting duck at one stage.

“We were having problems with the engine. I just want to thank everyone. The team give me the tools and I do the best I can.”

A fuming Verstappen reacts to Ocon smash

“We did everything today. He was such an idiot he gets taken out while he’s being lapped.

“I think the race was better than expected for us today. The car worked well.

“The strategy worked well. I’m happy with second, but we should have won today.”

HAMILTON WINS THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX

The Brit claims his tenth win of the season after holding off a late charge from Verstappen.

He was fortunate the Dutchman had been forced of the track by Esteban Ocon earlier in the race.

But he showed excellent discipline as his tyres deteriorated towards the end.

Elsewhere, Raikkonen holds on to third from Ricciardo to claim the final place on the podium.

Mercedes have also won the constructors’ championship.

Lap 68

I may have spoken too soon. Vertsappen has now cut Hamilton’s lead to 1.5s.

Get ready for an incredible finish.

Lap 65

Verstappen is going to run out of laps here.

While he is eating away at Hamilton’s lead it remans 2.4s it will probably too big a gap.

Lap 63

Ricciardo sets a new fastest lap of 1.11.343

Lap 62

We’re approaching crunch time in Brazil.

Verstappen is only 2.5s behind leader Hamilton and gaining on him all the time.

He’s got nine laps to pass him.

Lap 59

Ricciardo whizzes past Bottas in the inside and he is up to fourth.

Nothing Bottas could do about that – it’s been on the cards for some time.

As it stands, though, Mercedes will still be constructors’ champions

Lap 56

Ocon has been handed a 10-second penalty for his clash with Verstappen.

The Force India driver is down in 14th.

Lap 55

Hamilton could be ready to pit as he asks if anybody is struggling with their styes over the radio.

Lap 52

Verstappen is closing in on Hamilton at an alarming rate for the Brit.

He is almost 0.2s faster per lap and his team tell him: “You just put your personal best sector two in there, you’ve still got this.”

Meanwhile, Vettel stops again and nobody is quite sure why. He will come back in seventh but will be up to sixth pretty quickly.

Lap 50

Fifth-placed Ricciardo is closing in on Bottas and is only 0.6s behind the Mercedes, who are having issues despite Hamilton being in the lead.

Verstappen is still closing on the lead he lost in that bizarre incident.

Lap 45

“What a f*****g idiot”, Verstappen says over the radio.

Red Bull principal Christian Horner is fuming in the pit lane – and rightly so.

That was unbelievable from Ocon and the incident is being investigated.

Verstappen is still faster than Hamilton and his team tells him to calm down.

Lap 44

Incredible drama here as Verstappen collides with Esteban Ocon – who fails to get out of the way despite being a lap down!

Hamilton goes into the lead but Verstappen manages to recover to hold on to second place.

Lap 40

Ricciardo goes into the pits leaving Hamilton and Verstappen as the front two.

The Dutchman’s pace is too much for Hamilton as he eases past him and regains the lead.

Verstappen has also been told his tyres are much fresher than Hamilton’s. Could this all be over?

Lap 36

Verstappen has pitted and comes out in front of Bottas into third. He is behind Hamilton by just over a second.

Daniel Ricciardo is the current race leader but has not been in yet.

This could be an epic battle between Hamilton and Verstappen.

Lap 34

Disappointment for Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who is forced to retire with a fault.

He sounds gutted over the radio.

Lap 31

Verstappen sets a new fastest lap and Hamilton is not happy.

“You need to give me something, I’ve got these guys ahead of me. Tell me what I need to do,” he says.

Lap 28

Vettel has pitted and comes back out in ninth.

Lap 26

Verstappen – who is yet to pit – has a huge 8.2s lead over Raikkonen in second.

Hamilton asks his team if they have lost ground as he says his tyres do not feel good.

However, they tell him he is making gains on the leader.

Lap 22

Marcus Ericsson RETIRES after spinning out

“I cannot drive this,” he tells his team.

Lap 20

Hamilton speaks to his team:

“Box, box. Box, box,” they say.

“I’ve got another lap in me,” he replies.

“No, no. Box, box. Box, box,” he’s told.

In he goes but he is out again in only 2.6 seconds.

He comes out behind Romain Grosjean into seventh but he is not messing around and passes him at the first attempt.

Bottas has also been in and is now on medium tyres.

Lap 18

Raikkonen is closing in on Bottas as they battle at turn six.

It is just a matter of time before he passes him.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso appeared to stall in the pits. Ferrari are also preparing to pit.

Lap 15

The current top ten

1 Hamilton

2 Verstappen

3 Bottas

4 Raikkonnen

5 Vettel

6 Ricciardo

7 Leclerc

8 Grosjean

9 Magnussen

10 Perez

Lap 13

Verstappen is absolutely flying and Hamilton will see him in his mirrors VERY soon.

He has shaved 0.3 seconds off his lead, although Hamilton is increasing his own pace.

Elsewhere, Riccardo has been told that Bottas is struggling badly.

“The Mercedes are not particularly quick at this stage,” the Red Bull engineer says.

Lap 10

Verstappen is less than half a second behind Bottas going into lap nine – and he completes an inevitable pass on the next lap.

He’s up to second and Hamilton should be worried.

Lap 5

This is the perfect start for Mercedes as Verstappen overtakes Vettel with an incredible late move.

He has now set his sights on Bottas – who needs to increase his pace.

His Red Bull team-mate Daniel Riccardo has also flown past Charles Leclerc into sixth. Incredible stuff from Red Bull.

5.14pm: Vettel gets away well but so does Hamilton and he holds onto his lead.

Vettel then locks his tyres and is overtaken Bottas, while Raikkonen leapfrogs Verstappen into fourth.

We have a Mercedes one-two after Lap 1.

5.00pm: Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson – who is a career-best sixth on the grid – is experiencing some pre-race problems as he has lost some of his diffuser.

One of the team’s engineers says: “We lost part of the extractor in the out lap but I hope we will fix it for the start of the race.

“It could be better but I hope we will be able to fix it.”

4.55pm: Just 15 minutes until we get underway in Sao Paulo.

It is now being reported that there is a 60 per cent chance of rain so we could be set for an absolute cracker.

Strap yourselves in!

4.46pm: Not long now and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff makes Ferrari favourites today. Here is what he said prior to the race.

“They are on the more robust tyre for the race and they have a disadvantage at the start but a big advantage over the first 10 or 15 laps, which in our models show them as the favourite to win.”

4.40pm: Incredibly, Hamilton has never won a race immediately after claiming the title.

He has won the title four times before the final race of the season.

Can he break that hoodoo today? His individual job might be done but Mercedes need his help as they look to wrap up the constructors’ title.

4.35pm: Weather update – According to the forecast, we are looking at a 50 per cent chance of rain today.

Ferrari and Mercedes look baffled and say they don’t have a clue what to do.

4.30pm: Hamilton may have wrapped up the drivers’ title in Brazil – but Ferrari are still in with a slight chance of winning the constructors’ championship.

They need to outscore Mercedes by 13 points today to stop them claiming their fifth consecutive crown.

That would take it down to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

4.20pm: A quick reminder of what happened in qualifying.

Hamilton was left fuming with Sergey Sirotkin after the pair almost crashed in Q2.

Sirotkin came within inches of Hamilton’s Mercedes when the he was on an out lap as he flew past him on the inside – just as he was moving in.

And Hamilton had a few wise words for the 23-year-old junior.

“Between all the drivers, we all know to keep our space by that point so it was generally quite a disrespectful move.

“I was trying to get out of his way and then he got to the corner and slowed up.

“It was kind of strange, it was completely unnecessary because he had a space behind. Ultimately his lap and my lap weren’t great.

“Hopefully he can learn from it.”

It made little difference as Hamilton claimed top spot – and here is how the front of the grid line up.

1: Lewis Hamilton, 2: Sebastian Vettel, 3: Valtteri Bottas, 4: Kimi Raikkonen, 5: Max Verstappen, 6: Daniel Ricciardo

4.10pm: Good afternoon and welcome to Express Sport’s live coverage of the British Grand Prix.

Five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is on pole despite a tricky qualifying session.

The Brit was close to crashing out in Q2 but recovered to pip Sebastian Vettel, who starts from second on the grid.

He will be looking too cement that with another victory. Can he do it? Stay with us to find out. The race gets underway in an hour.