Alonso thrills as Verstappen takes 17th win of the season

McLaren's Lando Norris finished second, 8.2 seconds behind but with a bonus point for fastest lap, while Aston Martin's Alonso took third place by a whisker from Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

Verstappen, now fourth in the all-time list of winners and ahead of French great Alain Prost after his 52nd career victory, clinched the title in Qatar last month while Red Bull have also retained their constructors' title.

The champions have won 19 of the 20 races so far, including the last five in a row.

"Well done Max, that was absolutely clinical once again," said team boss Christian Horner over the radio as Verstappen took the chequered flag from pole position at Interlagos.

The victory stretched his lead over Perez to 266 points, with the Mexican now 32 clear of Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in the battle for second overall.

"The starts were very important today. Both of them were I think very good. After that the whole race was about the management of the tyres," said Verstappen, who also won Saturday's sprint race.

While the Dutch driver's victory always looked inevitable, Alonso provided the late thrills with a dramatic battle with Perez in which he showed all the attacking fire and defensive skill of a double world champion.