Jenson Button took his third race win of the season as Sebastian Vettel secured his third consecutive drivers' title at the Brazilian Grand Prix this afternoon.
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It looked like Vettel might have missed out after a first-lap collision with Bruno Senna left him with a damaged car and dropped him down the field.
Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez also crashed out on the opening lap.
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The McLarens battled for the lead in the early stages, with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg also on the pace.
Hulkenberg took the lead for a time before losing out to Hamilton.
The pair came together on lap 55, when Hulkenberg was challenging to regain the lead.
The German driver lost control of his car and crashed into the McLaren driver, ending Hamilton's final race for the Woking team and promoting his teammate to the lead.
Vettel fought his way back through the field to keep his championship hopes alive.
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Felipe Massa, who had been running second, allowed his teammate to pass him while Vettel was running seventh, meaning that the Red Bull driver would claim the title by one point.
The 25-year-old gained another place late on as the retiring Michael Schumacher let Vettel pass.
Paul di Resta suffered a heavy crash on the penultimate lap, stranding his Force India car on the track.
As a result the safety car was deployed, meaning the race finished under controlled conditions, and secured Button's race win and Vettel's world championship.
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Massa and Alonso's podium finishes secured second place in the constructors' championship for Ferrari, while an 11th place finish for Vitaly Petrov allowed Caterham to leapfrog Marrusia.
Vettel becomes the youngest ever triple world champion.
Sian Cowper
