Brazilian GP: Lewis Hamilton sure mid-race spin cost him the win

Hamilton was gaining on his Mercedes teammate in their second stints at Interlagos, and was poised to take the lead as he set new fastest laps after Rosberg had pitted from first place.

But before he could reach his pitstop, Hamilton had a spin at the Descida do Lago, costing him seven seconds.

That allowed Rosberg to stay ahead, and despite Hamilton getting back onto his tail by the closing laps, the German was able to hang on and win for the first time since the German GP in late July.

"I think ultimately it cost the win," said Hamilton of his spin.

"I was much quicker up until that point and on that lap, I had gone one second quicker as Nico pitted.

"I thought I was going to pit at the end of that lap and on next lap I had nothing [left on the tyres].

"At the end of the day I locked the rears into Turn 4 and under rotation that spun me around, the second time it happened this weekend - no one's fault but mine."

The result came a week after Hamilton had secured United States GP victory by overtaking early leader Rosberg midway through the Austin race.

Rosberg said after taking pole in Brazil that he could not afford to lose out in the same manner again, with Hamilton having established a 24-point lead with five consecutive victories.

After reducing that gap to 17, Rosberg said he had put lessons learned at Austin into practice.

"Austin was a tough day for me on Sunday, and it was important for me to improve," he said.

"I didn't do a good enough job in the [US] race. Today I managed to do that. That I am happy about: I learned from Austin and did better, so that is a big step in the right direction.

"It was a great race with Lewis just behind me, and I needed to make sure the gap was such that there was no chance for him to go for the overtake, unlike Austin, which was good."

With double points applying for Abu Dhabi, Hamilton needs to finish second to be champion if Rosberg wins the finale in a fortnight's time.

"It is still all to play for," said Rosberg. "I need to keep this going."