THE BIG PICTURE: One of the greatest, most exciting, and enjoyable Formula 1 seasons from start to finish.

EVENT: Can't beat Brazil for a Formula 1 event.

QUALIFYING: Hamilton continues his momentum, McLaren steals the show, Alonso puts himself in a hole, and Schumacher goes out with a whimper.

RACE: It was fitting this season ended with a wild, tension filled race.

TRACK: We don't know what it is about Interlagos, but that track sure seems to produce some memorable races, especially when it gets wet. We're not complaining!

START: Red Bull forgets to drink their own product, Massa is amazing, Alonso is spectacular, and Vettel suffers a nightmare as Senna almost bones the championship.

VETTEL: Perhaps the toughest race of his life.

ALONSO: Also, perhaps the toughest race of his life. Certainly, it was the most brilliant season of Alonso's career.

RED BULL: Congratulations to a remarkable achievement, Adrian Newey ... eh ... Red Bull.

FERRARI: Let's face it. Ferrari is like the New York Yankees. They don't exist to be lauded for a strong effort. They exist only to be lauded for winning championships.

HULKENBERG: Brilliant in the wet on dry tires. In fact, brilliant the entire race. McLaren probably wishes they could change their mind on next year's driver lineup. Nico truly deserved to win this race more than anyone else. But racing doesn't work that way.

BUTTON: Nice bookend victories to the season.

HAMILTON: Perhaps a fitting ending to Lewis' tenure at McLaren.

MCLAREN: Certainly headed in the right direction down the stretch. Now, it will be up to Button to lead the way next year.

MASSA: Another strong race in his home country, but more importantly, continued his resurgence at the end of the year. Ferrari should now be hopeful they can collect the points next year necessary to contend for the Constructor's title.

WEBBER: Mark, please spare us the BS quotes you spewed out before the race. Even Pygmies in Africa knew you were going to do whatever it took to help Vettel win the championship, including dropping out of the race if Vettel needed one more position.

ROSBERG: Before the flat tire, he was beating his teammate, again. A fitting end to Nico's domination over Michael.

SCHUMACHER: The worst comeback in sports history (excluding boxing).

MERCEDES: Raise your hand if you felt the Silver Arrows ever gave any indication Lewis Hamilton was smart for going to them.

RAIKKONEN: Imagine if Kimi had a GPS in his car. "Recalculating. Recalculating."

VERGNE: Jean-Eric is starting to take the number one position on Toro Rosso.

KOBAYASHI: Kamui's swansong?

DI RESTA: His stock completely plummeted after his teammate was the star of the race while Paul was just ... average.

SENNA: Bruno must be the second happiest man in the paddock after Vettel won the championship...

GROSJEAN: Romain ended the season with a crash. We're shocked! Simply shocked!

FIA: Totally wrong. Totally, totally, totally wrong concerning the penalty to Hulkenberg.

HRT: Will this be another case of a rich guy getting bored?

SPEED: Thanks for 17 great years. Let's hope NBC is up to the task.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Thrilling.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 3 -- Vettel joins an exclusive club of three for winning his third consecutive title.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Interestingly, the other two drivers who also won three consecutive championships actually had longer streaks. Juan Manuel Fangio won four in a row and Michael Schumacher won five in a row.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Sebastian Vettel describes the tension in the race, "Right to the end I didn't know if I'd done enough. Trundling along behind the safety car and then dragging over the line was just torture."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Whatever was going through Vettel's head when Senna hit him at the start.

SCHEDULE: Even fans need the break of the offseason after this amazing year. Will next year's schedule find France returning to replace New Jersey?

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