Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg said he was happy to settle for second place in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, despite seeing his title lead reduced to 12 points.
Mercedes teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton claimed a comfortable victory at a chaotic rain-hit race in Brazil to cut the deficit to Rosberg, ensuring the championship will go down the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Rosberg could have sealed his maiden F1 title with a win at Interlagos but now only needs a top-three finish in Abu Dhabi to secure the championship.
"It didn't go my way today with the win, Lewis just did a great job," the German conceded. "It was very difficult conditions out there but I can live with second today. I was hoping for the win but second was OK."
Despite being passed by Max Verstappen following the second restart, Mercedes's cautious strategy of staying on full wets allowed Rosberg to reclaim second when Red Bull opted to switch to intermediates, a decision which proved to be the wrong call as rain continued to fall.
Several drivers -- including home favourite Felipe Massa -- crashed out in the tricky conditions, while Verstappen and Rosberg were able to save scary moments of their own heading up the hill onto the straight-finish straight.
When asked about his incident, Rosberg replied: "That is true yes. It worked out fine to stay on track."
Speaking about Verstappen's near-miss, Rosberg added: "I arrived on the straight and I saw him pointing 90 degrees towards the wall, I was like 'what the hell."
In a race laden with numerous incidents and stoppages, Rosberg believes the hectic grand prix was well managed by the stewards.
"It was on the limit but in the end they got it right. They did a good job judging it but it was quite a fine line out there."