Sao Paulo: Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton won a stop-start, wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday to take his Formula One title battle with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

The Briton's third win in a row from pole position and first in Brazil left him 12 points behind Rosberg, who finished second, with the pair both on nine victories each for the season.

Rosberg will win the championship if he finishes third in Abu Dhabi on November 27 even if Hamilton wins.

In a crash-filled thriller that was twice stopped and re-started, with five safety car periods and lengthy delays, Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished third with a sensational performance in the wet.

As one of the most dramatic races for years unfolded, Hamilton was supreme at the front in treacherous conditions, lapping consistently faster than anyone. After each re-start, Hamilton cruised easily away from Rosberg - building at one stage an 18-second lead in 14 laps before another safety car cut his lead to nothing.

His victory is the 52nd of his career, making him the second most successful race winner of all time ahead of Alain Prost (51). Michael Schumacher is way ahead on 91. "Not too bad, huh," said Hamilton. "I was generally just chilling up front. When it rains, it's usually a good day for me.

"It was tricky for everyone. There were definitely opportunities for aquaplaning, which everyone did.

"No mistakes, no issues, no spins. It was kind of interesting to hear how many people were spinning, but I didn't have that problem."

Rosberg, for his part, said: "It didn't go my way. Lewis just did a great job. It was very difficult conditions and I can live with second for sure."

The race, which started behind the safety car after a 10-minute delay, was stopped for the first time after 20 of 71 scheduled laps when Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen had a big crash on the pit straight after losing control.

The Finn, whose car spun across the track and came to rest facing oncoming traffic in the spray, was fortunate to avoid a more serious accident.

The opening seven laps were behind the safety car and Sweden's Marcus Ericsson brought it back out on lap 13 when he smashed his Sauber backwards into the barriers, coming to rest at the pit lane entry. Racing resumed at the end of lap 19 but Raikkonen crashed seconds later.

"This is just bad, just stupid," said Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel who had spun off on lap 10 and ended up facing oncoming cars amid the spray.

"Red flag is what it needs, we need to stop the race. How many people do they want to crash? I nearly crashed into Kimi in the middle of the straight, I couldn't see anything," added the four-time champion.

Hamilton's closest rival for much of the race, though, was Verstappen, who passed Rosberg around the outside of Turn Three on lap 32 on one of several re-starts after a safety car period. (Agencies)