Wehrlein got a superb start from pole, taking a big lead through turns 1 and 2. Mitch Evans got an excellent start from 4th on the grid and overtook Vergne, while having a look at Vandoorne in the process.
Da Costa gained two spots to move into P6, with Müller falling from 7th to 10th. Jake Dennis had briefly dropped to P13, but he made his way back into 11th by the second lap.
Wehrlein led Vandoorne, Evans, Vergne, Bird, Da Costa, Mortara, Cassidy, Hughes and Müller at the end of the first lap. With a lot of energy saving required and the peleton racing returning, Da Costa joined his teammate towards the front as he passed Bird, Vergne and Evans to move into 3rd.
Wehrlein and Vandoorne took attack mode on lap 3, giving Da Costa the lead of the race. The German ended up in P2, Vandoorne dropped to P6.On lap 4, Sam Bird took his turn at the front, leading the two Porsches, Vergne and Evans. Jake Dennis moved himself up to P9.
As the pack backed up, Cassidy clipped his front wing off the back of Mortara at turn 5. Fortunately for the championship leader, he did not break it, but he was left with quite a bit of damage.
Bird took his first attack mode on lap 7, giving the lead back to the Porsches.
A Safety Car was called due to a lot of debris at turn 1, including a front wing of Nato that came off. Lucas Di Grassi also lost his front wing as it came off on the start-finish straight.
Da Costa led Wehrlein, Vergne, Bird, Evans, Vandoorne, Mortara, Cassidy, Dennis and Rowland when the race went green again on lap 9.
As the Porsches took attack mode again, Evans took the lead as the game of chess continued to be played. The Kiwi followed them on the next lap, giving the lead to Bird once again.
Unfortunately for Nico Müller, his front wing got lodged under his car when running in 9th.
World Champion Dennis started to make his move up the field, overtaking Wehrlein and Bird. When Evans and Da Costa took attack mode, he moved into the lead.
Nato was handed a 5-second penalty for causing a collision with Di Grassi.At the halfway point, Bird led Evans, Wehrlein, Dennis, Da Costa, Vergne, Rowland, Vandoorne, Günther and Buemi.
A Safety car was called on lap 16 as championship leader Nick Cassidy crashed out of the race. His front wing gave up following the earlier contact and was a passenger as he hit the wall on the outside of turn 9.
When the green flag waved again on lap 20, Bird led Evans, Wehrlein, Dennis, Da Costa, Vergne, Rowland, Vandoorne, Günther and Buemi. Günther had served his stop-gp penalty early on for the change of gearbox and drove through the pack to find himself in the top 10 in the closing stages.
On the restart, Evans aggressively defended against Wehrlein to hold on to 2nd. In the fight for 4th, Dennis made a quality move on Da Costa through the tight turn 1 and 2 section. Günther continued his remarkable charge through the field, passing Vandoorne for P8.
A yellow flag was required at turn 1 as Nico Müller stopped. However, he did get going again and a Safety Car was avoided.Towards the back, De Vries hit Nato at turn 3 and dropped to 18th.
On the run to turn 4, Mitch Evans took the lead on lap 28 from Sam Bird as he had a fraction more energy. Jake Dennis had more than anyone else and passed Wehrlein.
The Penskes continued to be in battles. As Vandoorne reclaimed P8, Vergne was passed by Rowland in turn 1 for 6th. The Nissan driver continued his charge as he passed Da Costa for P5.
Although he was very good on energy, Jake Dennis fell away as the high temperatures in the Brazilian city started to hurt the cars.
In an extraordinary final lap, Sam Bird pulled off an astonishing overtake on Mitch Evans into turn 9 as he went around the outside of the New Zealander to take a stunning victory.
Out of the final corner, Wehrlein, Dennis and Rowland went side-by-side, with the Nissan driver coming out on top. The German had a look at the Brit which opened the door for Rowland to snatch P3 at the line. Wehrlein did manage to grab 4th from Dennis.
Da Costa, Vergne, Vandoorne, Günther and Buemi completed the points scorers as the last lap proved to be one of the best you will see.
