Nico Rosberg proved a point with Brazilian GP win, says Mercedes' Toto Wolff

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff believes Nico Rosberg’s “very impressive” victory in the Brazilian GP proved that the German’s best performances this year haven’t been confined to qualifying sessions.

Much was made in the build-up to last Sunday’s race that Rosberg - who on Saturday secured F1’s inaugural pole position trophy by setting the qualifying pace for the tenth time in 2014 - had only once beaten title rival Lewis Hamilton, on the tight streets of Monaco at that, when he had headed up an all-Mercedes front-row this year.

But the German driver doubled his tally at Interlagos to secure his fifth win of the season after withstanding increasingly intense pressure from his title-leading team-mate. Given Hamilton had come into the weekend on the back of five straight wins, Wolff believes Rosberg’s timesheet clean-sweep in Brazil – he topped all seven sessions through the weekend – will serve as a timely boost for next week’s Abu Dhabi title showdown.

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“Very impressive,” Wolff said of Rosberg’s performance which closed the German's championship deficit to Hamilton to 17 points with 50 up for grabs in the decider.

“Psychologically the weekend was very important for him.

“Dominating every single season and then winning the race with a Lewis Hamilton behind your back pushing hard, withholding that push and keeping his cool together shows that he wasn’t only a great qualifier this season but he showed also his skills to win a race against a guy who is leading the championship.

“Although victory isn’t enough for him for Abu Dhabi, psychologically and for the fans and for Formula 1 it’s a great rebound and it’s going to make us all look excited towards Abu Dhabi.”

While the Mercedes one-two finishing order in Brazil may have bucked the recent trend, the Brackley outfit’s 11th such perfect finish of the season represented a new benchmark for F1.

The team, which clinched their first Constructors’ Championship two races earlier in Russia, also set a new record for most podium finishes in a season and equalled the all-time mark of 15 victories in a single campaign

“I’m so proud of the team, what it has achieved and where it came from. The hard work that goes on behind the scenes. What you see on the race weekend is just the tip of the iceberg,” a beaming Wolff said.

“There are so many hard-working, nice people having contributed to the success of the car and the season.

“The power of that team and to score these records – 11 double victories, 30 podiums, 15 wins a season – is only possible because that team is strong and sticks together. It makes me very happy.”