Third placed Felipe Massa celebrates in parc ferme

The 18 drivers have their say on the race at Interlagos where after 71 laps of action Nico Rosberg took victory.

Red Bull

A brief look at the 2014 Brazilian GP. A brief look at the 2014 Brazilian GP.

Sebastian Vettel: “I had a good launch at the start and then into Turn 4… maybe I don’t have the best memories of Turn 4 here from two years ago, I didn’t know how aggressive Kevin (Magnussen) was going to be going into it and I left a bit too much space. I went a bit wide and lost two positions as I couldn’t get on the power out of the corner. #

“Then I had to fight hard to get the positions back during the race which we did, especially with strategy. I hoped to get maybe one more position to finish fourth, but in the end it was a good result for us here.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “When I went into Turn One, the car went to the right and I knew there was a problem. I came into the pits and the team told me it was suspension failure and we retired. It had been a bit of a boring race, we were close to everyone but not close enough to have many fights; I would have liked to have had a bit more fun, but it didn’t really happen.

“It’s a shame, but I had a pretty good run until now, so I can’t be too greedy. It would be good to finish on the podium at the final race of the season.”

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg: “That was a fantastic weekend and I felt very comfortable over the whole three days. I had to learn from Austin, which was a big disappointment, and I think I achieved that. I was able to control the pace a bit better and didn't let Lewis come too close. He drove really well and was always right there pushing me.

“When he spun I had a bit of time to relax and was able to save some life in the tyres for the end of the stint. That worked out perfectly and it was a great day with another one-two for the team. I was also happy for Felipe to be on the podium with us at his home race.

“The Brazilian people have been so great to us throughout this the whole weekend so it was also a good day for them. Now we have a great finale to look forward to in Abu Dhabi. I'm still believing 100 per cent that I can make it but, of course, I will need some help from Felipe or Valtteri or Lewis himself.”

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was at fault for the spin which saw him lose vital time in his pursuit of Nico Rosberg during the Brazilian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton admitted he was at fault for the spin which saw him lose vital time in his pursuit of Nico Rosberg during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton: “Naturally, you'll always be disappointed when you make a mistake and I did that today. But honestly, I felt great out there. The car was strong, my pace was good, I didn't give up, kept pushing and made up the time so that's what's most important to me. Generally, when I'm told to push it means the team is bringing me in that lap so that's what I did. In the end, they left me out for another lap which caught me by surprise.

“By the time I came round to do the second lap my rear tyres were gone from where I'd been pushing so hard. Even so, it was my mistake locking up the rears and ultimately that cost me the win. Nico drove a great race - defending well and not making any mistakes. But it's clear I had the pace. It's not a big deal, though. That's motor racing.

“Obviously, I lost some points which is disappointing. But it's a great team result with a record-breaking one-two finish and I really enjoyed the race. The car is just fantastic - the best I've ever driven - so a big thank you to the team for all their hard work. I'll be pushing just as hard in Abu Dhabi and hopefully we'll get to have another great race like we saw today.”

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen give their reactions to the Brazilian Grand Prix as they finished 6th and 7th respectively. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen give their reactions to the Brazilian Grand Prix as they finished 6th and 7th respectively.

Fernando Alonso: “After a far from easy weekend, I am reasonably pleased with the outcome of the race, because even if we weren’t very competitive, we managed to score a good number of points. Today, degradation was particularly high, especially in the first stint on the Softs, which lasted less time than expected because of graining.

“When I passed Kimi, my tyres were newer than his, as he was on a two stop, but I was having to save fuel and after that overtaking move, there was nothing more I could do. Now there’s just one race to go this season and in terms of the Constructors’ Championship, we hope to manage to keep McLaren behind us in the final race in Abu Dhabi. As for myself, I reckon I’m in the position I deserve, because others have done better.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall, this has been a positive weekend and even today in the race, I felt very good in the car. During the second stint, we realised that if we went for a two stop strategy, we could make up ground, but then, at my second pitstop, I lost valuable time and that cost me some places.

“In the final part of the race, I had to fight off Button for a few laps and when Fernando caught me, tyre degradation meant I couldn’t fend him off. We leave Interlagos with a good feeling and even if we still have a lot of work ahead of us, this continued progress makes me confident for the future.”

Lotus

Romain Grosjean: “The start of the race was good and we were able to run high up in the field quite quickly. We had to switch from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy half way through the race however and that came with some challenges.

“A lot of work was done to improve the car’s performance this weekend so it’s hard not to be able to finish. We’ll be looking into what happened and make sure we’re ready to make the most of the double points on offer for the next race.”

Pastor Maldonado: “It was a tough race. We had to switch from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy due to high tyre wear which meant our race was compromised. My start wasn’t great but we managed to be a lot more competitive towards the end of the race and were aiming for points.

“I tried my best and was hoping to overtake Valtteri Bottas but it wasn’t possible in the end. We’ll be pushing hard in Abu Dhabi, that’s for sure.”

McLaren

Jenson Button was pleased with his performance as he clinched P4 in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jenson Button was pleased with his performance as he clinched P4 in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Jenson Button: “Judging the race was so tricky today. I pushed really hard on my first stint on the Prime [tyres] so as to maintain the gap to Valtteri [Bottas]. That meant I destroyed my rear tyres – but I reasoned that, if I could keep using DRS, I could establish a gap to the guys behind me. It was worth it, and it worked, but it meant I had to back off during the following stint to look after my tyres.

“It all went pretty smoothly until my final pit-stop – there was a bit of miscommunication about stopping, which meant I ended up doing an extra lap. That could have cost us a chance of the podium. It’s a shame we couldn’t hang on to Felipe [Massa], but it was still a fantastic race.

“I really enjoyed it. One of the best aspects of it was my great fight with Kimi [Raikkonen] – you always push to the limit with him, but you never go over it – so I enjoyed that very much.”

Kevin Magnussen: “That wasn’t a great race for me, which is disappointing.

“I had a lot of tyre degradation – I tried my best to take care of my tyres but it just didn’t seem possible today.

“I tried to keep people from getting past me, but guys like Fernando [Alonso] and Nico [Hulkenberg] just had more pace than I did, so it wasn’t possible. We need to sit down and have a look at why it didn’t go right for me today – I’m sure we can find the answer.

“On the positive side, it’s really good that Jenson scored the points he did today. Fourth is very impressive. I’m really happy for him and for the team today.”

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg: “It was quite a cool race and very satisfying to finish in eighth. With a three-stop race you are always pushing, but my race was not too complicated and I was on my own for a large part of the afternoon. I also had a few nice battles and it was good fun.

“The car felt a bit better today compared to earlier in the weekend so I was more comfortable and really able to push. The team made the right calls on the strategy and we maximised our performance with the tyres in these very hot conditions.

“I finished just behind the two Ferraris and maybe with one or two more laps I could have finished sixth instead of eighth, but that’s racing.”

Sergio Perez: “It was a difficult race and things didn’t really go my way all weekend. With the track time we lost on Friday and the grid penalty yesterday, we always knew it was going to be hard to recover the lost ground.

“I tried my best to fight through in the race, but I lost a lot of track position following the five-second penalty and for most of the afternoon I was stuck in traffic. I couldn’t make any progress and the cars around us were on a similar strategy. So it has been a disappointing weekend and I just hope we can have a better result in Abu Dhabi.”

Sauber

Esteban Gutierrez: “We fought all the way through the race, and it was looking good until half distance. When I tried to fight with a car in front of me I lost a lot of grip and the tyres quickly started to overheat.

“It was very difficult to cope with the tyre grip. There is one more race, and we have to keep pushing in order to accomplish our objective to score points.”

Adrian Sutil: “It was an uneventful race for me. I had to start from the pit lane due to a problem with the cooling configuration. It is a pity, as we quite often have problems. As a driver you give your best in qualifying, but then you have to start the race from the last position.

“In addition, there was an incident during my first pit stop, which cost me some time. It is frustrating, but we did our best today.”

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat: “A tough race, but starting from the 17th position on the grid and ending up 11th was the highest result we could achieve today. I really did my best but unfortunately the Mercedes powered cars were a lot quicker than us on the straights and we couldn't do anything more than this.

“We have tried hard to fight for 10th position but we just weren't fast enough. Me and the whole team gave the maximum and I hope that all our efforts will be repaid in Abu Dhabi, for our last race.”

Jean-Eric Vergne: “It was a little bit painful today. I spent almost the whole race in traffic behind Perez and I was slower than him, so even with the DRS open on the straight it was not possible to overtake him. This made me lose a lot of time and from then on my race was over. There was no way to score points today.

“It was a tough weekend but it’s already behind my back. We have to move forward, the race in Abu Dhabi will be very important for us. We have to take the positive and the negative, turn the page and get ready for the last round of the season.”

Williams

Felipe Massa: “It was not an easy race but what a fantastic result for me, for my family, and for the team to finish on the podium in front of my home fans. The energy from the crowd was amazing and really pushed me forward. The car had strong and consistent pace today and this allowed me to stay in third despite issues in my two pitstops.

“In the first stop I incurred a stop-and-go penalty after speeding in the pit lane after I hit the limiter twice by mistake, and in the second I stopped in the wrong box. We’re not normally next to McLaren and in the light their overalls looked the same colour as ours so this caught me out. In the end these issues were not enough to take away my podium because we had a good aggressive strategy and a really good car.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It was a race full of different problems for me and in the end it just wasn’t my day. I had an issue with my belts at the beginning that we resolved at the first pit stop but this lost me a lot of time and I also lost time in the second stop.

“The conditions were very challenging as tyre wear was high and all cars were experiencing graining. As a team we have managed to come away with some decent points and I’m happy for Felipe as the crowd reaction after he got out of the car was very special. These sort of days happen in Formula One and we need to regroup and make sure that Abu Dhabi is a problem free race for us.”