Lewis Hamilton produced arguably the greatest of his 101 F1 victories with a stunning come-from-behind win to keep the title race alive

• Lewis Hamilton overcame a disqualification and grid penalty to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
• The Brit described the race as one of his career's best as he kept his hopes of an eighth world title alive.

Lewis Hamilton has kept his hopes of a record-breaking eighth Formula One world title alive after overcoming a disqualification and grid penalty to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in stunning fashion on Sunday.

Hamilton has now won 101 times in F1, but Sunday's win is arguably his finest ever.

Heading into the weekend, Hamilton needed a win if he was to keep his title chances alive, and got off to a flying start on Friday, finishing top in qualifying.

That success, however, was short-lived, when he was disqualified for having an illegal rear wing on his car.

Hamilton's punishment related to the deployment of his drag reduction system (DRS), which allows F1 cars to open a portion of their rear wing at some points on the track, reducing aerodynamic drag and allowing the car to go faster.

When open, wings are allowed to have an 85-millimeter-wide gap, but at one point on Hamilton's wing it was marginally wider, and as such, he was punished.

As a result, Hamilton was disqualified from the qualifying session meaning he would start Saturday's sprint race at the back of the grid.

Despite this hurdle, Hamilton produced an excellent drive to finish in fifth in the sprint race, which sets the grid for Sunday's full race.

That penalty, however, was not the end of his poor fortune as an engine replacement meant he was given a five-place grid penalty.

Starting Sunday's race in 10th, Hamilton had work to do to catch his rival Max Verstappen who started second behind Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Despite Verstappen overtaking Bottas to take the lead, Hamilton had reason to be happy as he rose from 10th to sixth by the end of the first lap.

Hamilton gained a further place by the end of lap three before Bottas was ordered to let him pass into third.

Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez tried his best to protect the Dutchman but he too was soon overtaken by the speed of Hamilton's Mercedes.

With the other 18 cars behind them, fans were treated to a battle between the only two men who have ever had a realistic chance of claiming this year's ultimate crown.

Having already crashed into each other twice this season, it looked like there was going to be a third when Hamilton attempted to pass Verstappen on lap 48.

As the pair rounded the corner, Hamilton was on the outside but Verstappen yielded no room and it resulted in both of them momentarily leaving the track.

The stewards looked into the incident, but decided no investigation was necessary, much to the annoyance of Hamilton.

That annoyance was short lived though when Hamilton's superior speed and fresher tires allowed him to overtake Verstappen with relative ease 11 laps before the end.

From there, it was plain sailing for Hamilton who crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of Verstappen and cut the championship deficit to 14 points.

Hamilton hails win as one of his best ever

After the remarkable victory, Hamilton described the race as one of the best of his career.

"This has been one of the best weekends - if not the best weekend - I have experienced in my whole career," he said, as reported by the BBC.

Later speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said it was "overwhelming."

"I don't remember another weekend like this," he said.

"I definitely didn't know I was going to win, of course that was always my goal but it's quite overwhelming to be honest. I feel great in my body, I feel great mentally.

Hamilton also received praise from former F1 world champion Damon Hill who tweeted that it was "one of the best drives I've ever seen in F1."