Nico Rosberg secured his tenth pole position of the season by the narrowest of margins to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The German ended Q3 just 0.033 seconds faster than Hamilton after the paid traded fastest laps during the session. Rosberg’s tenth pole sees him awarded the first ever pole trophy.
Williams were a pole threat as Felipe Massa pleased his home crowd to take third, just two-tenths back, whilst team-mate Valtteri Bottas was fourth.
The Mercedes-engined cars ruled with McLaren’s Jenson Button fifth. The leading non-Mercedes car was that of Sebastian Vettel in sixth, splitting the McLaren cars.
Sergio Perez was second slowest after a compromised build-up when Daniel Juncadella crashed his car on Friday, whilst Pastor Maldonado was last, though he will start ahead of Perez when the Mexican serves his US penalty for crashing into Adrian Sutil.
Qualifying – 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix
| # | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:10.347 | 1:10.303 | 1:10.023 |
| 02 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:10.457 | 1:10.712 | 1:10.056 |
| 03 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:10.602 | 1:10.343 | 1:10.247 |
| 04 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:10.832 | 1:10.421 | 1:10.305 |
| 05 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:11.097 | 1:11.127 | 1:10.930 |
| 06 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:11.880 | 1:11.129 | 1:10.938 |
| 07 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:11.134 | 1:11.211 | 1:10.969 |
| 08 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:11.558 | 1:11.215 | 1:10.977 |
| 09 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:11.593 | 1:11.208 | 1:11.075 |
| 10 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:11.193 | 1:11.188 | 1:11.099 |
| 11 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:11.520 | 1:11.591 | |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:11.848 | 1:11.976 | |
| 13 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:11.943 | 1:12.099 | |
| 14 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:11.423 | ||
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:12.037 | ||
| 16 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:12.040 | ||
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force | 1:12.076 | ||
| 18 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:12.233 |
