Lewis Hamilton ensured that the race for the 2016 Drivers' Championship will go down to the final race of the season following his victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix in torrid conditions. The Briton has won the last three races on the spin to put pressure on his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg at the top of the standings, ensuring that the German will be forced to battle to the end for the crown.

Rosberg holds a 12-point lead heading into the final round in Abu Dhabi as he attempts to win the first Championship of his F1 career. The German only needs to be on the podium should Hamilton reel off his fourth win on the bounce, but he can still finish as low as 11th as long as the 31-year-old places outside of the top four.

It means that there will be great drama on the circuit throughout the race, with the possibility of one mistake deciding the outcome of the title. Hamilton has thrived on the pressure before and has the experience over his team-mate, and the odds here suggest that it will be a closely fought event right to the chequered flag.

Rosberg will perhaps feel that he should have closed out the Championship before now, missing a golden opportunity to put distance between himself and Hamilton when he was forced out of the Malaysian Grand Prix. However, the German could only finish in third place behind the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, giving the 31-year-old a glimmer of hope of clinching his third crown in a row – which would see him become just the fourth man in the history of the sport to accomplish the feat.

It has been the story of the season that the two Mercedes drivers have been in lockstep. Rosberg pulled ahead at first in the early stages of the campaign as Hamilton had issues with his car. Their clash in the Spanish Grand Prix where they collided proved to be a turning point, shifting the momentum in Hamilton's favour. He won six out of the next seven races to take the outright lead in the standings, but his joy was to be short lived.

The German came roaring back after the summer break with three victories of his own in Belgium, Italy and Singapore and has not surrendered the lead since. Hamilton's recent comeback is testament to his character and he proved that with a steady drive in Brazil to secure his third win on the bounce in heavy rain, judging the conditions to perfection.

Rosberg kept his Mercedes on the straight and narrow where other drivers failed, and he only needs to show the same level of composure once more in Abu Dhabi to secure the crown. Hamilton knows all too well about doing just enough to win the title, having experienced that in 2008 when he was attempting to win his first Championship.

In Brazil, Felipe Massa almost snatched the crown from his grasp by claiming victory on home soil, while Hamilton had to finish in the top five to beat his rival by one point. Sebastian Vettel almost put a spanner in the works by overtaking the Briton on the last lap, but he just managed to rally to finish ahead of Timo Glock and clinch the Championship. Nerves were aplenty for the McLaren driver that day and he will hope that his team-mate suffers the same fate in Abu Dhabi so he can put himself into the Formula One history books.