McLaren´s Lewis Hamilton claims first ever pole in Brazil and also his final pole for McLaren before moving on to new team Mercedes for 2013. Hamilton remained fastest all through Practice 1 and 2 on friday while team mate Jenson Button was fastest on Saturday´s Practice 3 before qualifying. This showed the McLaren is in strong form for the weekend as Red Bull´s Vettel remained second fastest in all 3 sessions prior to the qualifying.

At the start of qualifying the track was drying after short rain in the afternoon but drivers went straight into slick tyres. Laptimes started to tumble drastically during Q1 but Hamilton remained on top with Senna and Button close behind. By Q2 the cars were even more faster as the track was drying out and Hamilton was mostly fast until Vettel pipped him at the last moment.

Q3 started with the track almost dry and Hamilton remained fast while Webber made a faster lap in the final run which but Hamilton went even more faster to claim the pole. Button slotted inb etween Hamilton and Webber to claim 2nd quickest but Championship leader Vettel who made a mistake on the first lap of the final run made ground on his final lap only to gain P4. Vettel´s championship contender Alonso managed only 8th fastest while his Ferrari team mate Massa was fifth fastest in his home track.

Williams Pastor Maldonado was sixth fastest while Force India´s Nico Hulkenberg was 7th. Kimi Raikkonen was 9th and Nico Rosberg was 10th fastest ahead of Paul Di Resta of Force India and home boy Bruno Senna. Sergio Perez on the Sauber was 13th fastest and Michael Schumacher qualified 14th on his final outing in an F1 car.

Narain outqualified team mate Pedro De La Rosa, who was caught in a tangle with Lotus´ Romain Grosjean which escaped any penalty by the stewards.

Maldonado drops 10 grid spots after missing a call to the weigh bridge and thus receiving his third stewards reprimand of the season.

After Maldonado´s penalty the starting grid will be : Hamilton, Button; Webber, Vettel; Massa, Hulkenberg; Alonso, Raikkonen; Rosberg, Di Resta; Senna, Perez, Schumacher, Kobayashi; Ricciardo, Maldonado; Vergne, Grosjean; Petrov, Kovalainen; Glock, Pic; Karthikeyan, De la Rosa. 

Quotes
Lewis Hamiton - P1 (1:12.458s)
"Pole! What a great feeling! It’s been a fantastic weekend so far. We don’t yet know for certain what the weather conditions will be like tomorrow, but I hope that both Jenson and I will be able to push for victory. 

I’ve usually started from fourth grid position at Interlagos, and it hasn’t always given me much success. Before qualifying, I told Martin [Whitmarsh] that I really didn’t want to start fourth this time. All in all, I’m very proud and happy that I got pole."

Sebastian Vettel - P4 (1:12.760s)
“Q2 was good for us, but I made a mistake on the first lap of Q3 in Turn 4. I was happier with the second lap in Q3, but it wasn’t quick enough. I could have done a little bit more, so I’m keen to see the data when I get back and see where I could have improved. We’re in good shape and have been quick all weekend, so let’s see what we can do in the race – we will try to do our best."

Fernando Alonso - P8 (1:13.253s)
“I’m not surprised at this position, because it’s not as though we can expect a revolution in performance terms in the space of a week. I think I did a good qualifying and, given how the last few races have gone, my chances of making it to the podium are still intact. That will be my objective because I know that, at least under normal circumstances, we are not in with a chance of fighting for the win. I also know that, if I am to have any hopes for the title, it’s more plausible to count on a retirement for Vettel rather than for him to finish in a position where I can get ahead of him in the classification. Obviously, I am therefore hoping for a chaotic race and so the rain could be an important factor even if, in the wet, it is riskier for everyone. The car is not particularly set up for the wet, as it’s not like it used to be. Felipe in front of me? He did a great qualifying, above the norm, so it’s to be expected. It’s almost a miracle to have arrived at the last race still in the fight for the title: under normal circumstances I think we would have said goodbye to our chances back in Monza or Singapore. However, here we are, still in the game and we are definitely not going to surrender today.”