Nico Hulkenberg will start the Brazilian Grand Prix on pole position after the German set a time over a second quicker than any other driver.
The weather played its part to inject some extra entertainment into the session. Q3 saw a drying track with all the drivers venturing out on slicks for the final few minutes.
It was Hulkenberg who got the timing spot-on. The Williams driver crossed the line last, securing the best conditions for his final flying lap.
He’ll start ahead of the two Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mark Webber.
Lewis Hamilton will line-up behind Webber, but crucially the championship leader, Fernando Alonso, will start fifth.
Barrichello, Kubica, Schumacher, Massa and Petrov round off the top ten.
Jenson Button’s dreams of a back-to-back championship look to be almost impossible as he couldn’t make it out of Q2, finally securing P11.
Adrian Sutil suffered his worst qualifying session. He set the 18th fastest lap, but will start 22nd after a five-place grid drop handed to him after the Korean GP. Sebastien Buemi also received a grid-drop and will start 19th.
Brazilian Qualifying Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 Time | Q2 Time | Q3 Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:19.025 | 1:18.516 | 1:15.637 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:19.931 | 1:18.921 | 1:15.747 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:19.160 | 1:18.691 | 1:15.519 |
| 11. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:19.905 | 1:19.288 | |
| 7. | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:19.249 | 1:19.877 | 1:16.552 |
| 5. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:18.987 | 1:19.010 | 1:15.989 |
| 9. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:19.778 | 1:19.200 | 1:17.101 |
| 18. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:20.830* | ||
| 1. | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:20.050 | 1:19.144 | 1:14.470 |
| 12. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:19.741 | 1:19.385 | |
| 16. | N. Heidfeld | Sauber | 1:20.174 | 1:19.899 | |
| 10. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:20.189 | 1:19.153 | 1:17.656 |
| 6. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:19.799 | 1:18.925 | 1:16.203 |
| 8. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:19.879 | 1:18.923 | 1:16.925 |
| 13. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:20.153 | 1:19.486 | |
| 15. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:20.096 | 1:19.847* | |
| 14. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:20.158 | 1:19.581 | |
| 17. | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:20.592 | 1:20.357 | |
| 20. | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:22.250 | ||
| 24. | B. Senna | Hispania | 1:23.796 | ||
| 21. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:22.378 | ||
| 22. | L. di Grassi | Virgin | 1:22.810 | ||
| 19. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:22.130 | ||
| 23. | C. Klien | Hispania | 1:23.796 |
* Five-place grid penalty to be added.
