Verstappen has deposed Hamilton as F1's new Senna

Lewis Hamilton described winning the Brazilian Grand Prix as a dream come true, because after 10 attempts he had finally won in the home country of his hero Ayrton Senna.

The reigning world champion was utterly dominant on Sunday afternoon, further enhancing his credentials in the wet with the kind of performance that was reminiscent of Senna.

Though Hamilton tried to play it down, suggesting he was just "chillin'" at the front, he was stunning. When you compare his 20 fastest laps to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg's, he was 0.617 seconds quicker on average.

But despite Hamilton's impressive drive in Brazil echoing his hero, it was his young rival Max Verstappen who emerged as the modern-day Senna last weekend.

The Dutchman pitted for extreme wet tyres as conditions worsened with 16 laps to go, dropping him to 14th.

He then made up a position on each of the next six laps and then another five in the remaining 10 to grab a podium finish.

That came after he pulled off a tremendous move on Rosberg around the outside of Turn 3 and a spectacular save from a high-speed spin earlier in the race.

"They don't get much better than that," said his Red Bull boss Christian Horner. "What we witnessed was something very special.

"It was right up there [with Senna and Michael Schumacher's famous wet weather drives]. You have to compare it to those great moments.

"You don't often witness a motor race like that and what we saw today was something very special. It demonstrated what a great talent he is."

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko had likened Verstappen to Senna even before he made his F1 debut. After Sunday's race, the paddock was full of praise for the youngster.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff described it as the "Verstappen GP", saying the teenager is redefining physics in F1 with his driving style.

Williams performance chief Rob Smedley said Verstappen was "in a class of his own" and "incredible to watch" and even suggested he could have won the race had it gone on a few laps longer.

It's the kind of terminology that would have been used to describe Senna and is often used when discussing Hamilton.

Verstappen was fearless in the wet, using every moment behind the safety car to build his knowledge of the track and understand where the best grip was at each corner. It looked like he was the only driver doing that.

His passes on Kimi Raikkonen and Rosberg were particularly impressive because they were completed on tyres that were in a similar condition, whereas he had fresher rubber in the closing stages to help his fight up the field.

The performance highlighted Verstappen's natural speed and his racer's instinct, not to mention an utter belief in his own ability. He had an understanding of what was going on around him, reacting brilliantly to the changing conditions.

He has benefited from a great motor racing education, courtesy of his father Jos and more recently the Red Bull junior programme, but that is a supplement to his innate talent. His actions on track are the kind of things you cannot easily teach.

Verstappen's driving has been under the spotlight this year, particularly a tendency to move under braking that has drawn criticism from rivals and prompted a tightening up of the rules.

But it is part of the same ruthless streak that Senna employed and echoes the Brazilian's desire to do everything in his power to win, no matter the cost.

Verstappen demands respect on the track. He believes he is the best and is not afraid of any of his rivals, despite being the new kid on the block.

He delivers strong drives with very few mistakes and rarely lets his form dip. When the pressure is on, Verstappen doesn't crack.

The teenager cares little for criticism. If anything, he feeds off it. He believes his way is the right way and refuses to change his style despite complaints. He speaks with a firm belief and conviction in what he is saying. It makes him easy to relate to and stands out in a sport where so many drivers are reserved.

His driving style, combined with a desire to speak his mind, has gone down well with fans. People turn up at races just to watch him. He has star quality and that's an incredible feat at his age and so early in his career.

These are traits that Senna had in abundance.

Hamilton does, too. The Briton's speed is unquestioned and he retains the belief that when going wheel-to-wheel with team-mate Rosberg, his rival will cede position rather than risk an accident. Senna had the same conviction when racing Alain Prost.

Hamilton has had no problem running Rosberg off the road over the course of their partnership at Mercedes and the strategy has mostly paid off.

The reigning world champion, whose original helmet design was based on the colours used by Senna, has spoken at length about the impact Senna had on him growing up, adding one of the qualities he particularly admired was that his driving style was so different to his rivals.

He described Senna as a "daredevil" who did what he needed to do to win and never seemed to be afraid of anything on track, always taking it to the edge.

Hamilton has modelled himself on that, asserting himself on track from the moment he arrived in F1. He wanted to let other drivers know that he wasn't afraid to overtake them, no matter who they are.

That approach delivered results for Senna, though it didn't always work out - most famously when he launched an attack on Prost at the final chicane at Suzuka in 1989 only to be surprised when the Frenchman turned in on him.

But Hamilton has evolved over the course of his 10-year stint in Formula 1.

Experience has changed him. And with experience comes knowledge and maturity. He retains the pure speed and attacking nature and still wants to take pole in every qualifying session and win every race but he has added a string to his bow.

He has learned that it is worth spending hours on set-up to make the car comfortable and drivable for the race. That commitment extends beyond race weekends, with Hamilton in constant contact with his engineers throwing around ideas. Not content with being very talented, Hamilton is prepared to put the hard work in.

The result is that Hamilton has arguably evolved into a driver who is better than Senna and is now echoing traits of his hero's rival Prost.

This is an intriguing development and one that sets up the tantalising prospect of a Senna-Prost style battle in 2017, particularly given the changes to the regulations, with Verstappen going head-to-head with Hamilton.

Only, in an unexpected turn of events, Verstappen - at the very start of his career - will enter the season in the role of Senna, while Hamilton - who is at the peak of his career - will take on the part of Prost.

Now no one saw that coming.